Digitized by tine Internet Arciiive in 2010 witii funding from Tine Library of Congress Inttp://www.arclnive.org/details/mexicolierpeopleo02wint MEXICO AND HER PEOPLE OF TO-DAY Uniform with This Volume -^8«- Panama and the Canal ...» By Forbes Lindsay $3,00 Cuba and Her People of To-day * • By Forbes Lindsay 3.00 Brazil and Her People of To-day . , By Nevin 0. Winter 3.00 Guatemala and Her People of To-day . By Nevin 0. Winter 3.00 Mexico and Her People of To-day By Nevin 0. A\' inter 3.00 Argentina and Her People of To-day , By Nevin 0. Winter 3.00 Bohemia and the Cechs . ♦ . . By Will S. Monroe 3.00 In Viking Land. Norway : Its Peoples, Its Fjords and Its Fjelds * * . By Will S. Monroe 3.00 Turkey and the Turks By Will S. Monroe 3.00 Sicily, the Garden of the Mediterranean . By Will S. Monroe 3.00 In Wildest Africa By Peter MacQueen 3.00 ■^^ L. C. PAGE & COMPANY 53 Beacon Street, Boston, Mass. A BELLE OF TEHUANTEPEC {See page 180) MEXICO AND HER PEOPLE OF TO-DAY AN ACCOTINT OP THE CUSTOMS, CHAEACTERISTICS, AMUSE- MENTS, HISTORY AND ADVANCEMENT OF THE MEXICANS, AND THE DEVELOP- MENT AND RESOURCES OF THEIR COUNTRY BY KEVIN 0. WINTER II ILLUSTBATBD FROM ORIGINAL PHOTOGRAPHS BT THE AUTHOR AND C. R. BIRT ^eu) T^evised Edition BOSTON V? ^ AND COMPANY ^ L. C. PAGE MDCCCCXII Copyright, 1907, Bt L. C. Page & Company (incoepobated) Copyright, 1912, By L. C. Page & Company (incorpoeated) Entered at Stationers' Hall, London All rights reserved Second Impression, May, 1908 Third Impression, June, 1910 New Revised Edition, January, 1912 Bleetrotyped and Printed by THE COLONIAL PRESS C. H. Simonds & Co., Boston, U.S.A. ©CU309007 PT TO AND THE MEMORY OP PREFACE TO REVISED EDITION Since the first publication of " Mexico and Her People of To-day," Mexico has seen stir- ring times, and there has been a radical change in the government. Revolution again broke forth, and the long dictatorship of Porfirio Diaz has ended. These conditions have made advisable a completely revised edition of this work, which the public and the press have stamped with their approval to a degree that has been most pleasing. To both public and press the author desires to return his most sincere thanks, and he has in this revision en- deavoured to be as accurate and painstaking as in the original preparation. Furthermore, another trip to that most interesting country has enabled the author to give a description of a section but briefly treated in the previous edition. New appendices have been added, con- sisting of a bibliography and a few suggestions for those contemplating a trip to Mexico. NeVIN 0. WiNTEE. Toledo, Ohio, January, 1912. PEEFACE Many books have been written about Mexico, but several of the best works were written a quarter of a century ago and are now out of print. This fact and the developments of the past few years leads the author to believe that there is a field for another book on that most interesting country ; a book that should present in readable form reliable information concern- ing the customs and characteristics of the peo- ple of Mexico, as well as the great natural re- sources of the country and their present state of development, or lack of development. It has been the aim of the author to make a complete and accurate presentation of the sub- ject rather than to advance radical views con- cerning and harsh criticism of our next-door neighbours. With this idea in mind he has read nearly every prominent work on Mexico and Mexican history, as well as other current periodical literature concerning that country vi Preface during the two years devoted to the prepara- tion of this volume. It is hoped that the wide range of subjects, covering the customs, habits, amusements, history, antiquities, and resources will render the volume of value to any one interested in Mexico and her progress. If this volume shall aid in any way to a bet- ter understanding of Mexico by Americans, or in furthering the present progressive move- ment in that country, then the author will feel amply repaid for the months of labour devoted to its preparation. The author wishes to make special acknowl- edgment of obligation to his friend Mr. C. E. Birt, his companion during the greater part of his travels through Mexico, and to whose artis- tic sense in selection and grouping the excel- lence of many of the photographs herewith reproduced is due. Toledo, Ohio, September^ 1907* CONTENTS CHAPTBH PAGE I. Aztec Land 1 11. Across the Plateaus .... 22 III. The Capital 46 IV. The Valley of Anahuac 74 V. The Tropics 90 VI. A Glimpse of the Oriental in the Oc cident 111 Yll. The Isthmus of Tehuantepec . 128 VIII. In the Footsteps of the Ancients . 144 IX. Woman and Her Sphere 162 X. The Peon 183 XI. Customs and Characteristics . 201 XII. Holidays and Holy -days . 225 XIII. A Tr.\j^splanted Sport 243 XIV. Education and the Arts . . . . 257 XV. Mines and Mining 274 XVI. Railways and Their Influence 290 XVII. Religious Forces 308 XVEII. Passing of the Lawless . . . . 328 XIX. The Story of the Republic 343 XX. The GinoiNG Hand .... 369 XXI. The Revolution of 1910 396 XXII. The Sierras and Beyond 415 XXIII. The Ruined Cities of Yucatan 438 XXIV. The Present and the Future . 456 Appendices . 479 Index . 485 LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS PAGE A Belle op Tehuantepec (See page 180) . Frontispiece i^ Snow - capped Popocatapetl 4 1^ General Map of Mexico 6 "^ An Indian Maiden 10 1^ " The Land of Burros and Sombreros " . . . 22 i^ Market Scene in San Luis Potosi 30^ Cock-fighting in Mexico 33 '^ The Maguey 41^ Map of the Valley of Mexico . . . , . 461/ The Patio of an Old Residence 48 ^ The Cathedral . 60i^ A Picturesque Pulque Shop 66 1^ The Calendar Stone 77 1^ Scenes on the Viga Canal 82 / Bridge at Orizaba. — The Buzzards op Vera Cruz. — Avenue of Palms, Vera Cruz . . . 98*^ An Indian Home in the Hot Country .... 104 1^ Rice Culture 109 "^ The Aqueduct, Oaxaca. — A Fountain in Oaxaca . 116 >/ The Market - women of Oaxaca. — The Pottery- market, Oaxaca 118*^ Crossing the River on Market-day .... 121 1/ The Market, Tehuantepec 132 vii viii List of Illustrations PAGE Entrance to the Underground Chamber, Mitla. — North Temple, Mitla. — Hall op the Monoliths, Mitla 157 "^ A Zapoteco Woman 161 ^ "Plating the Bear" 170 (^ Washing on the Banks of a Stream .... 177*^ A Peon and His Wipe 184 »^ A Cargador 198"^ Making Tortillas 215 s^" A Mexican Market 218*''^ Candy Boy and Girl 220 <^ Burning an Effigy of Judas at Easter - time . . 233 \/ Candle Booths in Guadalupe 240 ^ Beggars of the City of Mexico 242 ' '' Planting the Banderillas . . . . . . 250 ; An Aztec Schoolgirl 266 1 Peon Miners at Lunch 280* Along the Mexican Southern Railway . . . BOO*/ Wayside Shrine with an Offering of Flowers . . 312 ^' A RURALE 3321^ Army Headquarters, City of Mexico .... 336^ A Village Church 364 i-' A Company of Rurales 370"' Sr. Don Francisco I. Madero 411^ A Group of Peons . 419 ^ Tarahumari Indians 421*^ Crumbling Ruins of the Ancient Mexican Civiliza- tion 441" An Old Church 451*^ Primitive Transportation 457 »^ Primitive Ploughing near Oaxaca 465"^ MEXICO AND HER PEOPLE TO-DAY CHAPTER I AZTEC LAND Pkescott says: *'0f all that extensive em- pire wliicli once acknowledged the authority of Spain in the New World, no portion for interest and importance, can be compared with Mexico; — and this equally, whether we consider the variety of its soil and climate; the inexhausti- ble stores of its mineral wealth; its scenery, grand and picturesque beyond example; the character of its ancient inhabitants, not only far surpassing in intelligence that of the other North American races, but reminding us, by their monuments, of the primitive civilization of Egypt and Hindoostan; or, lastly, the peculiar circumstances of its conquest, adventurous and romantic as any legend devised by Norman or Italian bard of chivalry." 1 2 Mexico and Her People To-day Mexico is a country in which the old predom- inates. The American visitor will bring back more distinct recollections of the Egyptian carts and plows, the primitive manners and customs, than he will of the evidences of mod- ern civilization. An educated Mexican whom I met, chided the Americans for this tendency, for, said he, '' all that is written of Mexico is descriptive of the Indians and their habits, while progressive Mexico is ignored." This is to a great extent true, for it is the unique and ancient that attracts and holds the attention of the traveller. For this reason tourists go to Egypt to see the pyramids, sphinx and tombs of the Pharaohs. It is not necessary for the traveller to ven- ture out upon perilous seas to see mute evi- dences of a life older than printed record. In this land of ancient civilization and primitive customs, there are cities which stand out like oriental pearls transplanted to the Occident from the shores of the Eed Sea. Here in Mexico can be found pyramids which are no mean rivals to those great piles on the Egyp- tian deserts; crumbling ruins of tombs, and palaces, and temples, ornamented in arabesque and grecque designs, not unlike the structures along the banks of the mighty Nile; and the Aztec Land 3 same primitive implements of husbandry wliieh we have viewed so often in the pages of the large family Bible. Then, as an additional attraction, there is the actual presence of the aborigines, Aztec, Zapotec, and Chichimec, speaking the same language, observing the same ceremonies, and following the same cus- toms which were old when the foreigners came. There is no history to enlighten us as to the age of these monuments, and there are few hieroglyphics to be deciphered upon which a Eosetta Stone might shed light. The student is led to wonder whether the Egyptian civiliza- tion antedated the Mexican, or whether the former is simply the Mexican learning and skill transplanted to the Orient and there modi- fied and improved. It is quite possible, that, while our own ancestors were still barbarians, and little better than savages, swarming over northern Europe, the early races in Mexico had developed a civilization advanced and pro- gressive. They knew how to build monuments which in masonry and carving teach us lessons to-day. They made beautiful pottery and artistic vessels, and they used gold for money and ornaments. Notwithstanding the fact that for a thou- 4 Mexico and Her People To-day- sand miles the republics of Mexico and the United States join, the average American knows less concerning Mexico than he does of many European countries ; and it is much mis- understood as well as misrepresented. Mexico possesses the strongest possible attractions for the tourist. Its scenic wonders are unsurpassed in any other part of the globe in natural pic- turesqueness ; and no country in Europe pre- sents an aspect more unfamiliar and strange to American eyes, or exceeds it in historic in- terest. Vast mountains including snow-capped Po- pocatapetl and Ixtaccihuatl, the loftiest peaks on the American continent, are seen here amid scenes of tropical beauty and luxuriance. Great cities are found with their customs and characteristics almost unchanged since they were built by the Spaniards; and there are still more ancient cities and temples which were built by prehistoric races. It is a land of tradition and romance, and of picturesque contrasts. At almost every turn there is something new, unique, interesting, and even startling. It has all the climates from the torrid zone to regions of perpetual snow on the summits of the lofty volcanic peaks, and is capable of producing nearly every fruit found Aztec Land 5 between the equator and the Arctic circle. The softness and sweetness of the air; the broken and ever-varjang line of rugged hills against a matchless skj'-; the beautiful views between the mountain ranges; the care-free life which is omnipresent each add their charm to the composite picture. Dirt is everywhere and poverty abounds, but even these are removed from the commonplace by the brilliant colour on every hand. F. Hopkinson Smith in '' A White Umbrella in Mexico " epitomizes this marvellously at- tractive country as follows : * ' A land of white sunshine, redolent with flowers ; a land of gay costumes, crumbling churches, and old con- vents; a land of kindly greetings, of extreme courtesy, of open, broad hospitality. It was more than enough to revel in an Italian sun, lighting up a semi-tropical land; to look up to white-capped peaks, towering into blue; to look down upon wind-swept plains, encircled by ragged chains of mountains; to catch the sparkle of miniature cities, jewelled here and there in oases of olive and orange ; and to real- ize that to-day, in its varied scenery, costumes, architecture, street life, canals crowded with flower-laden boats, market plazas thronged with gaily-dressed natives, faded church inte- 6 Mexico and Her People To-day riors, and abandoned convents, Mexico is the most marvellously picturesque country under the sun. A tropical Venice ! A semi-barbarous Spain ! A new Holy Land. ' ' Mexico contains a greater area than is gen-, erally understood. It is shaped very much like a cornucopia with an extreme length of nine- teen hundred miles, a breadth of seven hun- dred and fifty miles, and an area of nearly eight hundred thousand square miles. At its narrowest point, the Isthmus of Tehuantepec, it is only one hundred and twenty-five miles across from ocean to ocean. There is a double range of mountains, one near the Pacific coast and the other near the coast of the Gulf of Mexico, between which lie the great table lands, or plateaus, which constitute a large part of the surface. Three distinct climates are found in Mexico determined by altitude. Those regions six thousand feet or more above sea level are called the tierras frias, or cold lands. This is only a relative term, for the cold does not corre- spond with that of our own northern states. Though termed * * cold, " the mean temperature is not lower than that of Central Italy. Those lands lying at an altitude of six thousand feet, down to three thousand feet, above sea level J — y CENTRAL AMERICA S CENTRAL AMERICA Aztec Land 7 are termed the tierras templadas, or temperate lands. This is a region of perpetual hmnidity and is semi-tropical in its vegetation and tem- perature. An altitude from four thousand to six thousand feet in Mexico gives a most de- lightful climate. Along both the Atlantic and Pacific coasts there is a more or less broad tract called the tierra caliente, or hot land, which is a truly tropical region. Forests of dense growth cover the soil, so thick that it is impossible to pene- trate them without blazing your way as you go, and in the midst of which tower trees of mag- nificent size, such as are to be seen only in the tropics. Here it is that nature is over-prodigal in her gifts ; and here it is that the vomito, as yellow fever is called, lurks with fatal effect. The winds from the sea generally mitigate the fierce heat, especially if one can remain out of the sun during the middle of the day. Some- times these winds on the Atlantic coast acquire great velocity, and burst forth upon the un- protected shores with terrific fury as the so- called '' northers." There is no true winter here, but there is a rainy season from June to October, and a dry season from November to May, the former being the colder. ** In the course of a few hours," says Pres- 8 Mexico and Her People To-day cott, ' ' the traveller may experience every gra- dation of climate, embracing torrid heat and glacial cold, and pass through different zones of vegetation including wheat and the sugar- cane, the ash and the palm, apples, olives, and guavas." The dwellings vary also. In the hot lands the habitations are constructed of bam- boo and light poles open to sun and wind, for the only shelter needed is protection from the elements ; in the temperate region the huts are made of heavier poles, and are somewhat more durable ; in the higher lands they are built of adobe or stone. Sugar cane and coffee, and even the banana, will grow up to four thou- sand feet. Wheat grows best at six thousand feet and pines commence here too. At seven thousand feet cactus appears, and the maguey, ushering in an entirely different zone. Mexico is a country of extremes of heat and cold, pov- erty and riches, filth and cleanliness, education and extreme ignorance. Every schoolboy knows of Loch Katrine and Loch Lomond in bonnie Scotland, and most peo- ple are familiar with the location of Lago di Como, in Italy. And yet I should not be surprised if fair-sized towns could be found in the United States where no one could tell whether such a body of water as Lake Chapala Aztec Land 9 existed or not. As a matter of fact it is ten times as large as all the lakes of Northern Italy combined; and it embraces islands larger than the entire surface of Loch Lomond. Its steely blue waters and rugged shores need only the magic pen of the novelist or poet to tell of its beauties and invest each nook and glen with romance, and the charming villas of Como to make Chapala as picturesque and fascinating as those better known lakes. It is almost a hundred miles long and thirty-three miles wide at the widest point, and covers four- teen hundred square miles. Patzcuaro and Cuitzeo are also lakes of considerable size near Chapala, and all of them are six thousand feet or more above sea level. They only await de- velopment and advertising to become popular resorts. The vast majority of the inhabitants of Mex- ico are descendants of Indian races who were found there by the Spanish conquerors, and mixtures of those natives with European set- tlers. Of the fourteen millions of inhabitants only about nineteen per cent, are white ; of the remainder, forty-three per cent, are Indians and thirty-eight per cent, mixed. There is a greater resemblance of the Mexican Indians to the Malay races of Asia than to the American In- 10 Mexico and Her People To-day dians. Their intensely black hair and eyes, brown complexion, small stature, and even a slight obliquity of the eyes bear a strong re- semblance to the Japanese. I have seen it stated that, if a Japanese is dressed in Mexican costume, and a Mexican in Japanese dress, it is difficult to tell which is the Jap and which the Mexican. Students of languages say that there is a strong similarity between the Mex- ican tongues and oriental languages. The dif- ferent tribes do not mingle much and seldom intermarry, and this fact may contribute to their physical deterioration. Whence came this people? No one can as- swer. It is generally supposed that the Aztecs came from what are now the south-wesrteirn states of the Union, and wandered into the Valley of Mexico. They were defeated by the tribes then dwelling there, and sought refuge on the shores of Lake Texcoco. There they beheld a golden eagle of great size and beauty resting on a prickly cactus and devouring a serpent which it held in its talons, and with its wings outstretched toward the rising sun. This was the sign for which they had been looking, and there they proceeded to erect their capital. They first built houses of rushes and reeds in the shallow water and lived upon fish, and con- AN INDIAN MAIDEN Aztec Land 11 structed floating gardens. As the waters re- ceded somewhat they built more durable struc- tures, including great palaces and temples. They extended their sway over neighbouring races beyond the Valley and conquered tribe after tribe, although never claiming dominion over more than a small portion of the present confines of Mexico. The legend of the eagle and the cactus is still preserved in the coat-of- arms of the present republic. Of the Aztecs and their history prior to the conquest little is known, except that the coun- try was called Anahuac. Prescott has made his '* Conquest of Mexico " as fascinating as a novel, but he has shown the romantic side based upon knowledge of the most fragmentary character. The writings which pass for history were either written by bigoted priests who could not see anything good in an idolatrous people, and who, to please the leaders, painted the Az- tecs in blackest colours to justify the cruel measures taken, or they were written by Span- iards who never visited the country of which they presumed to write. As it has been said, '' a most gorgeous superstructure of fancy has been raised upon a very meagre foundation of fact." Their civilization was in many re- spects marvellous and far ahead of that of any 12 Mexico and Her People To-day other race on the western hemisphere. Under the Montezumas they had grown into a power- ful nation, and their rule was one of barbaric splendour and luxury. The Aztecs succeeded an older race called the Toltecs who were also far advanced in civiliza- tion. They were nature worshippers and not only did not indulge in human sacrifices, but were averse to war and detested falsehood and treachery. A Toltec noble is said to have in- structed his son after the following manner before sending him away from home: '' Never tell a falsehood, because a lie is a grievous sin ! Speak ill of nobody. Be not dissolute, for thereby thou wilt incense the gods, and they will cover thee with infamy. Steal not, nor give thyself up to gaming ; otherwise thou wilt be a disgrace to thy parents, whom thou ought- est rather to honour, for the education they have given thee. If thou wilt be virtuous, thy example will put the wicked to shame. ' ' Both of these races were also great builders and sculptors and had cultivated the art of picture-writing. They were well housed, de- cently clothed, made cloth, enjoyed vapour baths, maintained schools, and had a large as- sortment of household gods. They mined some, Aztec Land 13 and in agriculture, at least, were far ahead of the Mexicans of to-day. The vandalism of the Spaniards in destroy- ing the writings and other records of the early races is rebuked by Prescott as follows: '' We contemplate with indignation the cruelties in- flicted by the early conquerors. But indigna- tion is qualified with contempt when we see them thus ruthlessly trampling out the sparks of knowledge, the common boon and property of mankind. We may well doubt which has the strongest claim to civilization, the victor or the vanquished." The Mexico of to-day cannot be understood without looking for a moment at its settlement and the manner of the conquest. The Spanish conquistadores who flocked to these shores with Cortez were a different race from those early settlers, who, persecuted and denied liberty of conscience in the land of their birth, sought a new home on our own hospitable shores. With the union of the crowns of Castille and Aragon by the marriage of Ferdinand and Isabella, and the discovery of the New World, Spain had suddenly leaped to the front, and become, for a time at least, the greatest nation of the day. Ships were constructed in great numbers and 14 Mexico and Her People To-day sent out, filled with voyagers, " towards that part of the horizon where the sun set. ' ' In the sixteenth century she had practically become the mistress of the seas and the most powerful nation in the world. Her soldiers were brave and the acknowledged leaders of chivalry, but the curse of the Spaniards was their thirst for gold, and her decay was rapid. When Cortez and his band of adventurers came to the court of Montezuma, and saw the lavish display of vessels and ornaments made of the precious metal, they thought they had discov- ered the land of gold for which they were searching. Attracted by the glowing reports of untold wealth, thousands of Spaniards soon followed the first bands of conquistador es, and they rapidly spread over the entire country oc- cupied by the Aztecs, ever searching for the mines from whence this golden harvest came. While the leaders were imprisoning and tor- turing the Aztec chieftains to force them to give up the hiding places of their treasures, the priests, who everywhere accompanied the soldiers, were baptizing thousands into the new faith and using the confessional for the same end. Thus religious bigotry and the mania for worldly riches went side by side, and ever ring- Aztec Land 15 ing in the ears of both priest and warrior was the refrain: "Gold I Gold! Gold! Gold! Bright and yellow, hard and cold." Shortly after the conquest all the desirable lands were parcelled out among the invaders and the few Indian caciques who had helped, with their powerful influence, in their subju- gation. The Spaniards rapidly pacified the country, for the Aztec masses, however warlike they may have been before the coming of the Spaniards, were subdued by one blow. They were soon convinced that opposition to the power of Spain was useless. The priests, also, through their quickly acquired influence, taught submission to those whom God, in His infinite wisdom, had placed over them. Chiefs who would not yield otherwise were bribed to use their power over their vassals in favour of the Spaniards. Thus by force, bribery, intrigue, diplomacy, treachery, and even religion, the Indians were reconciled and the spirit of oppo- sition to the Spaniards broken. The result was a new and upstart nobility who ruled the coun- try with an iron hand in the course of a few decades; and the natives, with the exception 16 Mexico and Her People To-day of the chiefs, were made vassals of these newly made nobles. An era of building followed, in which great palaces after the grandiose ideas of Spain were constructed by Indian workmen. Churches were built with lavish hand, for these nobles thought to atone for their many misdeeds by constructing and dedicating places of worship to Almighty God, who, according to the teach- ing of the priest, was the God of the poor, op- pressed Indian as well as the God of the haughty Spaniard who had enslaved him. As one writer has said: '' When John Smith and his followers were looking for gold mines in Virginia and the Pilgrims were planting corn in Massachusetts, an empire had been founded and built up on the same continent by the Span- iards, and the most stupendous system of plun- der the world ever saw was then and there in vigorous operation. ' ' Cortez was searching for " a people who had much gold " of which he had heard. It was not God but gold that drew him in his campaign over Mexico. He did not aim to Christianize the natives so much as en- rich himself and acquire empire for his sov- ereign, and religion was a subterfuge plausible and popular in that age. ** I die," said the patriot Hidalgo, when about Aztec Land 17 to be executed in 1811, " but the seeds of liberty will be watered by my blood. The cause will not die ; that still lives and will surely triumph. ' ' His prediction came true, and freedom from the Spanish yoke of three centuries was se- cured ten years later after the shedding of much blood. Peace did not follow at once, however, for in the fifty years succeeding the declara- tion of independence the form of government changed ten times, and there were fifty-four dilEferent rulers, including two emperors and a number of dictatorships. Special privileges are difficult to eradicate when established by long usage, and those enjoying them yield only to force. The Church, which had imposed on the people such a vast number of priests, friars, and nuns, and had acquired the most of the wealth of the country, clung with the grip of death to its privileges and property. The changes came gradually, but it has been a half- century since the Church and State were form- ally separated by constitutional amendment. The bigoted and despotic Romanism, which was allied with the Spanish aristocracy, has at last been subdued. A more tolerant spirit is spring- ing up towards other forms of religious faith through the efforts of a powerful and liberal government. Education is also freeing the peo- 18 Mexico and Her People To-day pie from the superstitious ignorance which has hitherto prevailed in most parts of Mexico. There are occasional outbursts of fanaticism, but they are quickly suppressed, and the gov- ernment is making aU honest effort to preserve freedom of worship to all faiths. The United States of Mexico is a federation composed of twenty-seven states, three terri- tories, and the federal district in which the cap- ital is located. The states are sovereign within themselves and are held together under a fed- eral constitution very much like our own. This constitution was adopted on the 5th of Feb- ruary, 1857, and its semi-centennial was re- cently celebrated with a few of the original signers present. There is a congress composed of two bodies, the Senate and Chamber of Dep- uties which meets twice each year. Each state is represented in the former by two senators and in the latter by one representative for each forty thousand of population. The right of suffrage is restricted so that only a small proportion of the population can exercise that privilege. They have not really reached pop- ular government, and politics, as we know them in the United States, do not exist. A presiden- tial election scarcely caused a ripple on the sur- face. President Diaz was no doubt the popular Aztec Land 19 choice, but comparatively few votes were cast at liis last election. The rule of the Diaz government although decidedly autocratic was beneficient, and has redounded to the good of the country. Though practically an absolute ruler, President Diaz always acted through the regularly organized channels of a complete form of republican government, and outwardly, at least, there was no semblance of a dictatorship. Mexico is a country of great natural re- sources and possibilities which have been only partially developed. Its soil is remarkably fer- tile and could support five times, and, if water could be found on the plateaus, ten times the present population. And I say this notwith- standing the fact that one man has said that Mexico is the poorest country south of Green- land, and north of the south pole. The flora of the country, among which are many useful and medicinal plants, is exceedingly rich and varied. More species of fibre plants are found there than in any other country, and the com- mercial utility of these plants is not yet fully appreciated. In no country has there been greater waste of natural resources than the Spanish conquerors caused in Mexico. It is as a mining country that Mexico has been best known and the Mexican silver mines have been 20 Mexico and Her People To-day famous ever since tlie discovery of the New World, and they are still the greatest single source of wealth. Some of them which have been worked for centuries are still yielding small fortunes in the white metal each year. The Mexican has his own view of the United States and does not call our boasted progress and much-vaunted civilization, with its hurry, brusque ways and the blotting out of the finer courtesies, an improvement. He appreciates our mechanical contrivances and electrical in- ventions, but prefers to enjoy life after his own fashion and in the way he thinks that God intended in order to keep men happy. The civilization received by Mexico in the sixteenth century was looked upon as equal to the best in existence, and to this was added an ancient civilization found in the country. From these sources a manner of living has been evolved which bears evidences of culture and refine- ment. This system has flowed on through the intervening centuries, undisturbed by the march of progress, until the last quarter of a century. Things cannot be changed to Anglo- Saxon standards in a year, or two years, or even a generation. To Americanize Mexico will be a difficult if not impossible undertaking, and there are no signs of such a transition. Aztec Land 21 Americans who live there fall into Mexican ways and moral standards more frequently than Mexicans are converted to the American point of view. The influence of traditions, cus- toms, and climate, and the centuries-old habit of letting the morrow take care of itself is too great to be overcome. CHAPTEE II ACROSS THE PLATEAUS The traveller going to Mexico by rail will discover that that country begins long before the border is reached. While travelling over the great state of Texas, where the dialect of the natives is as broad as the rolling prairie round about, he is reminded of our southern neighbour by the soft accents of the Spanish language, or by the entrance into the coach of a Mexican cowboy with his great hat and picturesque suit. Leaving beautiful San An- tonio, which is a Spanish city modernized, it is but a few hours until the train crosses the muddy Eio Grande at Laredo and, after pass- ing an imaginary line in the centre of the stream, enters the land of burros and som- breros, a land of mysterious origin and vast antiquity. The custom officials are very polite and soon affix the necessary label " despachado " to the baggage. '' Vamonos " (we go) replaces the 22 »«; ^^-f-f'' Across the Plateaus 23 familiar " all aboard," and the train moves out over a country as flat and dreary as a des- ert. By whichever route the traveller enters Mexico, the journey is very uninteresting for the first half day. There is nothing to relieve the monotony except the telephone and tele- gi'aph poles, with their picturesque cross-arms standing out on the desert waste like giant sentinels. There is no vegetation except the prickly pear, cactus, and feather duster palms, for frequently no rain falls for years at a time. It seems almost impossible that anything can get moisture from the parched air of these plains. But nature has strange ways of adapt- ing life to conditions. A good illustration of this is seen in the ixtle, a species of cactus whose leaves look as if they could not absorb any moisture because of a hard varnish-like coat. Whenever any water in the form of dew or rain appears, however, this glaze softens and the plant absorbs all the moisture available and then glazes over again as soon as the sun comes out. There is very little life here. Sometimes at the stations a few adobe huts are seen where dwell the section hands, and a few goats are visible which, no doubt, find the prickly pear and cactus with an occasional railroad spike 24 Mexico and Her People To-day thrown in for variety, much more satisfying than an unchanging diet of tin cans such as falls to the lot of the city goat. The mountain ranges then appear, and never is the traveller out of sight of them in Mexico. On either side, toward the east and toward the west, is a range with an ever varying outline, sometimes near, then far, — advancing and retreating. At a dis- tance in this clear atmosphere their rough fea- tures are mellowed by a soft haze into amethyst and purple ; nearer they sometimes rise like a camp of giants and are the most fantastic mountains that earthquakes ever made in sport, looking as if nature had laughed herself into the convulsions in which they were formed. The Mexican National Railway follows a broad road that was formerly an Indian trail, and the track crosses and recrosses this high- way many times. By this same route it is prob- able that early Mexican races entered that country and marched down toward the Valley of Mexico. It was by this way that General Taylor invaded the country during the Mexican War and several engagements took place along the line of this railroad. The first town of any size is Monterey, cap- ital of the state of Nuevo Leon, the oldest and one of the most important cities in Northern Across the Plateaus 25 Mexico. It lies in a lovely valley with high hills on every side. It is at a lower altitude than the cities farther south on this line and enjoys a salubrious climate. Monterey is a very much Americanized town and has great smelters, factories, and breweries, but it also boasts of beautiful gardens and some old churches. The Topo Chico hot springs only a few miles away have a great reputation for healing. Here it was, in 1846, that General Taylor overcame a much superior force of the enemy under Gen- eral Ampudia in a desperate and stubbornly disputed battle lasting several days, the con- test being hotly fought from street to street. The Mexican troops entered the houses and shot at the American soldiers from the win- dows and roofs. It is now a city of more than fifty thousand people. Leaving Monterey, the road soon begins a gradual ascent to the higher plateaus and reaches the zone called tierra fria, or cold country. This name would seem a misnomer to one who hails from the land of snow and ice, for the mean temperature of this "cold land " is that of a perpetual spring such as is en- joyed north of Mason and Dixon's line. It is properly applied to all that part of Mexico which is six thousand feet or more above the 26 Mexico and Her People To-day- level of the sea and the greater part of the immense central plateaus comes within this designation. These plains which comprise about two-thirds of the entire country, are formed by the great Andes range of mountains which separates into two great cordillerias near Oaxaca and gradually grow farther and farther apart as they approach the Rio Grande. The western branch crowds the shore of the Pacific and the eastern follows the coast line of the Gulf of Mexico, but the latter keeps at a greater distance from the sea, thus giving a wider expanse of the hotlands. They are not level table-lands, these mesas, as they always slope in some direction. The arid condition follows as a natural course, for the lofty ranges cause the rain to be precipitated on the coast lands except during certain seasons in the year when the winds change. When the rains do come, a miracle is wrought, and the sombre landscape blossoms into a lively green dotted with flowers. It is rare to find such great plains at so high an altitude. Although now al- most barren of trees it is probable that in early times these tablelands were covered with a forest growth principally of oak and cypress. This is evidenced by the few groves that yet remain, in which many of the trees are of ex- Across the Plateaus 27 tra ordinary dimensions. The Spaniards com- pleted the spoliation that had been begun by the earlier races. Saltillo, the next important town, is the cap- ital of the State of Coahuila. It is interesting to Americans, as just a few miles from here and near the railway took place the battle of Buena Vista, at the village of that name. Here the Americans under General Taylor sent double their number of Mexicans under the notorious Santa Anna, flying on February 23rd, 18i7. Still climbing, the road continues toward the capital, passes through a rich mining district, and after the Tropic of Cancer is crossed the traveller is in the Torrid Zone, the spot being marked by a pyramid. Plains, seemingly end- less, where for a hundred miles the long stretch of track is without a curve, are traversed, and so dry that wells and water-tanks are objects of interest. It is mostly given up to vast haci- endas. Some of these estates still remain in the hands of the original families as granted at the time of the conquest. It was on these vast, seemingly barren pla- teaus that the hacienda reached its highest development. One does not go far south of the Rio Grande before the significance of this 28 Mexico and Her People To-day institution in Mexican life becomes apparent. Sometimes when the train stops at a little adobe station with a long name, the traveller wonders what is the need of a station; for there is no town and only a few native huts clustered around the depot. However a glance around the horizon will reveal the towers and spire of a hacienda nestling at the foot of the hills perhaps several miles away. In the olden times they took the place of the feudal castles of the middle ages in Europe and in these sparsely settled regions they were especially necessary. Within the high walls which often surround them for protection were centralized the residence of the owner and all of his em- ployees and the necessary buildings to store the products of the soil. The Jiacendado's home was a large, roomy building, for, since there were no inns, the traveller must be enter- tained and hospitality was of the open-handed sort. The travel-worn wayfarer was welcomed and no questions asked. His wants were sup- plied and at his departure the benediction '' G-o, and God be with you," followed him. Even yet at some of these great haciendas, where the old-time customs prevail, the bell is rung at mealtime and any one who hears it is welcomed at the table. Across the Plateaus 29 The term hacienda has a double meaning, for it is applied both to the great estates and to the buildings. It is a patriarchal existence that is led by these landed proprietors. A thousand peons and more are frequently at- tached to the estate. Near the station of Villa Eeyes is a great hacienda which once controlled twenty thousand peons. These must be pro- vided with homes, but a room fifteen feet square is considered sufficient for a family, no matter how large. Little furniture is needed, for they live out of doors mostly, and mats, which can be removed during the day, take the place of cumbersome beds. The ad- ministrador, who may be an Indian also, and other heads, live better and are housed in larger quarters. A church is always a part of the estate and a priest must be kept to fur- nish spiritual solace, as well as a doctor to administer to those whose bodies are infirm. Schools are also maintained by most of the proprietors to-day. The peon must be pro- vided with his provisions each week and a little patch of ground for his own use. Around the buildings lie the cultivated fields, and from early morn until the shades of night have fallen, lines of burros are constantly passing in and out laden with wood, corn, vegetables, poul- 30 Mexico and Her People To-day try, boxes of freight, and all tlie other items of traffic wMch are a part of the life of this great household. After piercing another of the mountain ranges which intersect the country from east to west, and traversing miles of fertile fields and gardens bearing semi-tropical fruits and vegetables, the road enters a valley and the city of San Luis Potosi is reached. Every country has its Saint Louis, but only one has a Saint Louis of the Treasure, and that is San Luis Potosi, the capital of the state of that name. It lies in a spreading plain of great fer- tility — made so by irrigation — whose gar- dens extend to the encircling hills that are rich in the mineral treasures which give the city its name. The San Pedro mines near here alone produce an annual output of several mil- lions. These mines were revealed to Spaniards by an Indian who had become converted to Christianity. There is a mint here that coins several millions of dollars each year. San Luis Potosi is not a new city nor has its growth been of the mushroom variety. Founded in the middle of the sixteenth century, it preserves to-day in wood and stone the spirit of old Spain transplanted by the conquerors to the new world. Drawn hither by the reports Across the Plateaus 31 of gold, the Spanish cavalier stalked through the streets of this town in complete mail before the Mayflower landed on the shores of Massa- chusetts. The priests were chanting the sol- emn service of the church here long before the English landed at Jamestown. Dust had gath- ered on the municipal library, which now con- tains a hundred thousand volumes, centuries before the building of the first little red school house in the United States. Before New York had been thought of, the drama of life was being enacted here daily after Castillian mod- els. It is a cleanly city and the bright attractive look of its houses is refreshing. A city ordi- nance compels the citizens to keep up the ap- pearance of their houses, and the colours re- mind one of Seville. It is pleasant to walk along these streets and through the plazas with their trees and flowers and fountains. I will never forget my arrival in this city. We reached there about midnight, having been delayed by a wreck; and a number of mozos pounced upon the party of Americans who had been dropped by the belated train, each one eager to carry some of the baggage. We were marched through the Alameda, which, for a wonder, adjoins the station, on walks shaded 32 Mexico and Her People To-day by broad-leaved, tropical plants, down narrow streets and around several comers to the hotel. Arrived here it was only after several minutes of vigorous knocking that a sleepy-looking porter opened the door, and we entered the hotel and walked down the hall through a line of sleeping servants. The room finally as- signed to my friend alid myself was thirty-four feet long, sixteen feet wide and about twenty- five feet high, and there were four great win- dows extending nearly from ceiling to floor and protected by heavy iron bars which made them look like the windows of a prison. It had doubtless been some church property at one time, but whether monastery or convent I did not learn. Not all this city is pretty however, for dis- tance often lends enchantment, and a closer scrutiny takes away much of this charm. I saw filth on the streets here that can only be duplicated in old Spain itself. There are nu- merous churches and several of them are quite pretentious and contain some fine paintings. On the faQade of one church there is a clock presented by the king of Spain in return for the largest piece of gold ever found in America. San Luis is a thrifty city as Mexican towns go and has numerous manufacturing establish- Across the Plateaus 33 iiieuts, including a large smelting works, the Compania Metallurgica, and is an important railroad centre. It is distant from the City of Mexico three hundred and sixty-two miles, and has a population of seventy thousand souls. This city claims quite a number of American families as residents and many of the store- keepers have been somewhat Americanized, for they actually seem to be on the lookout for busi- ness. The state capitol is a very interesting building. While looking through this palace I saw the " line up " of petty offenders who were being sent out to sweep the streets. They were the worst looking lot of pulque-drmkers I ever saw and were clothed in rags. Each one was given a handful of twigs with which he was obliged to sweep the streets and gutters, and they were sent out in gangs, each under a police officer. The vices of these people are generally more evident than their virtues. They are in- veterate gamblers. Wherever one goes (not alone in San Luis Potosi) fighting cocks are encountered tied by the leg to a stake with a few feet of string. Or they may be carried in the arms of young would-be sports who brag of their birds to any one who will listen. One day I saw a man with a cock whose head was one bloody-looking mass. He had just cut off 34 Mexico and Her People To-day the rooster's comb. When I stopped and looked, the Indian laughed as though it were a great joke and said he was '' much sick." This was done so that in a fight his opponent could not catch hold of the comb. Itinerant cock-fighters who travel across the country carrying their birds in hollow straw tubes are popular fellows. Leaving San Luis Potosi at noontime the traveller catches his last glimpse of this city where « Upon the whitened city walls The golden sunshine softly falls, On archways set with orange trees, On paven courts and balconies." The train soon enters a rich agricultural belt and the country becomes more populous. Giant cacti towering straight and tall to a height of fifteen or twenty feet are a common sight. Dolores Hidalgo where the patriot-priest first sounded the call to liberty and revolution is passed. Then comes Queretero, which occu- pies a prominent place in Mexican history and is the last city of any size on the way to the capital. Here the treaty of peace between Mex- ico and the United States was negotiated. In this city Maximilian played the last act in the Across the Plateaus 35 tragedy of the empire. He was captured while attempting to escape on June 19th, 1867, and was shot on the Cerro de las Campanas, a little hill just outside the city. With him were shot Generals Miramon and Mejia. Maximilian died with the cry of " Viva Mexico " on his lips. There is a. magnificent aqueduct here which, because of the high arches, looks like the old ruined aqueduct seen on approaching Bome. The tallest arch is nearly one hundred feet. The entire length of the aqueduct is about five miles and it is still in use. There are a num- ber of factories for cotton goods. Among them is the great Hercules Mill which employs more than two thousand hands. The grounds are laid out in elaborate and beautiful style. After climbing the mountain range again until an altitude of nearly ten thousand feet has been reached, the descent begins and the beauty of the Valley of Mexico unfolds. Fleet- ing glimpses of the scene may be caught through little gaps in the mountains until finally the train enters a pass and the traveller has his first view of the City of Mexico. Be- yond the glittering towers and domes of the modern city on the site of the ancient Aztec capital lies the bright expanse of the lakes, and still further in the distance is seen the encir- 38 Mexico and Her People To-day- agitators were blamed trouble was feared on this day, but it passed off without an unpleas- ant incident. This city was founded as early as 1532. Its history is romantic and full of legends recounting the many visits of the angels. Angels appeared one night and staked out the city. Again, while the cathedral was being built, the angels came after nightfall when the city was wrapped in slumber and built a great part of the tower. At another time the angels were marshalled in mighty hosts just over the city. The people can even point out to you the very places where the angelic visitors roosted. The ecclesiastical records vouch for these appearances of the heavenly visitors and the people devoutly be- lieve in them. Puebla has wide streets — for Mexico — and many beautiful plazas with flowers and foun- tains. It is also noted for its bull-fights and has two bull-rings. These are in use nearly every Sunday and frequently for the benefit of or in honour of some church feast or de- parted saint. The public buildings are very creditable and the city contains good schools and hospitals. A goodly number of foreigners live here, especially Germans. I have noticed that the Germans affiliate with the Mexicans Across the Plateaus 39 much better thau Americans generally do. One reason is that they come here to establish their pennanent residence, while Americans, like the Chinese, desire to make their fortunes and then return to the land of their birth to spend their later days. Puebla has become quite a manufacturing city and especially of cotton goods, paper, flour and soaps. Onyx and marble are quarried near here, and a large number of workmen are em- ployed in the quarries and in the establish- ments preparing these materials for the mar- ket. Several railroads now reach this city, and its importance as an industrial centre is in- creasing each year. All kinds of grains that are produced in the temperate zones will grow on the tablelands of Mexico wherever there is sufficient rain or water to be obtained by irrigation. A con- stantly increasing amount of acreage is being made available through the extension of the irrigation system, but its possibilities are only beginning to be realized. Corn, which is such a great article of food with the Mexicans, is by far the most valuable agricultural product and several hundred million bushels are pro- duced each year. Wheat was first introduced in Mexico by a monk who planted a few grains 40 Mexico and Her People To-day that he had brought with him. This grain is now raised quite extensively in some districts but frequently there is not enough for even local consumption. Cotton is also produced in a number of the states. Mexico is especially rich in j&bre-producing plants and no country in the world has so many different varieties. All of these belong to the great cactus, or agave, family. The value of the cactus has never been fully appreciated but new uses are being found for it constantly, and new kinds with valuable qualities are being dis- covered in Mexico almost yearly. Perhaps the most valuable plant of this family that is being cultivated in Mexico to-day is that species of the agave that produces the valuable henequen fibre of commerce. This plant very much re- sembles the maguey and grows on the thin, rocky, limestone soil of Yucatan. From this fibre is made most of the binder twine and much of the rope used in the United States. It has the threefold qualities of strength, pliability and colour. In the past twenty years tffe cul- tivation of henequen has grown to enormous proportions, and some of the planters have be- come millionaires almost rivalling the famous bonanza kings of olden times. The amount of henequen, or sisal, fibre exported to the United THE MAGUEY Across the Plateaus 41 States from 1880 to 1905 was nine million, two hundred and nineteen thousand, two hundred and fifteen bales at an estimated value of $300,- 988,072.66. In 1902 the exports reached a max- immn, and amounted to $34,185,275. All of this fibre is exported through the port of Progreso. Several species of the cactus family are being experimented with, and it is claimed that they will produce an excellent quality of paper pulp. This may help to solve the problem that now bothers paper manufacturers as the forests of spruce disappear before the woodsman's ax. The graceful maguey, the agave a/mericana, is cultivated almost everywhere on the plateau lands. It also produces a valuable fibre, but this plant is not cultivated primarily for that purpose. The ancient races used the thorns for pins and needles; the leaves furnished a kind of parchment for their writings and thatch for their roofs; and the juice when fermented made a — to them — most delicious drink. On the plains of Apam just east of the Valley of Mexico and north of Puebla the cultivation of the maguey has reached the highest develop- ment. The good housewife in the United States who carefully nourishes the century plant, hop- ing that at least her descendants will have the 42 Mexico and Her People To-day- pleasure of seeing it blossom at the end of a hundred years, would be surprised to see the immense plantations consisting of thousands of this same plant growing here. The plant, com- monly called the maguey, is a native of Mexico and grows to great size. It flourishes best in rocky and sandy soil and is quite imposing in appearance. Its dark green, spiked leaves which lift themselves up and spread out in graceful curves, sometimes reach a length of fifteen feet, and are a foot in breadth and sev- eral inches thick. It requires from six to ten years for the maguey to mature on its native heath. When that period arrives a slender stalk springs up from the centre of these great leaves, twenty to thirty feet high, upon which a great mass of small flowers is clustered. This supreme effort exhausts the plant and, its duty to nature having been performed, it withers and dies. This is not the purpose for which the maguey is raised on the big plantations where the rows of graceful century plants stretch out as far as the eye can reach in unwavering regularity. On these plantations the maguey is not per- mitted to flower. The Indians know, by infal- lible signs, almost the very hour at which it is ready to send up the central stalk, and it is Across the Plateaus 43 then marked by an overseer with a cross. The stalk is now full of the sap which is the object of its culture. Other Indians follow up the overseer and, making an incision at the base of the plant, extract the central portion, leav- ing only the rind which forms a natural basin. Into this the sap, which is called agua miel, or honey-water, and which is almost as clear as water and as sweet as honey, collects. So quickly does this fluid gather that it is found necessary to remove it two or three times per day. The method of gathering this sap is ex- tremely primitive. The Indian is provided with a long gourd at the lower end of which is a horn. He places the small end, which is open, in the liquid and, applying his lips to an opening in the large end, sucks the sap up into the gourd. The sap is then emptied into a re- ceptacle swung across his back which is made of a whole goat-skin or pig-skin with the hair on the inside. The maguey plant will yield six or more quarts of this '' honey- water " in a day and the supply will continue from one to three months. It is then exhausted and withers and decays. However, a new shoot will spring up from the old roots without replanting. This innocent looking and savoury sap is then taken to a building prepared for the pur- 44 Mexico and Her People To-day- pose, and there poured into vats made of cow- hides stretched on a frame. In each vat a little sour liquor called ''mother of pulque '^ has been poured. This causes quick fermentation and in a few hours the pulque of the Mexican is ready for the market. It is at its best after about twenty-four hours fermentation. It then has somewhat the appearance and taste of stale buttermilk and a rancid smell. After more fermentation it has the odour of putrid meat. The skins in which it is carried increase this disagreeable odour. The first taste of pulque to a stranger is repellant. However, it is said that, contrary to the general rule, familiarity breeds a liking. Great virtues are claimed for it in certain ailments and it is said to be whole- some. However this is not the reason why the peons drink pulque in such great quantities. Several special trainloads go in each day to the City of Mexico over one road, besides large amounts over other routes and it is a great revenue producer for the railroads. The daily expenditure for pulque in the City of Mexico alone is said to exceed twenty thousand dollars. Physicians say that the brain is softened, diges- tion ruined and nerves paralyzed by a too gen- erous use of this liquor. Many employers of labour will not employ labourers from the Across the Plateaus 45 pulque districts if they can possibly get them from other sources. Tequila and Mescal are two forms of ardent spirits distilled from a juice yielded by the leaves and root of the maguey. They are forms of brandy that it is best for the traveller to leave alone. CHAPTER ni THE CAPITAL The City of Mexico represents progressive Mexico. In it is concentrated the wealth, cul- ture and refinement of the republic. It is the political, the educational, the social and the conunercial centre of the whole country. It is to Mexico what Paris is to France. In fact it would be Mexico as Paris would be France. The same glare and glitter of a pleasure-loving metropolis are found here, and within the same boundaries may be seen the deepest poverty and most abject degradation. ' ' Wait until you get to the City of Mexico, ' ' said an educated Mexican to me as we were crossing the sparsely-settled table-lands of northern Mexico, where the only inhabitants are Indians. The Mexicans are proud of their city and are pleased to have it likened to the gay French capital, for their ideals and tastes are fashioned after the Latin standard rather than the American. The French, they say, 46 MAP OF THE VALLEY OF MEXICO The Capital 47 have the culture and can embrace a la Mexi- cana, which is done by throwing an arm around a friend whom they meet and patting him heartily on the back. They prefer the easy- going, wait-a-while style of existence to the hurried, strenuous life of an American city. No people love leisure and the pursuit of pleas- ure more than our neighbours in the Mexican metropolis. They work during the morning hours, take a noon siesta, close up early in the afternoon and are ready for pleasure in the evening until a late hour. In appearance the capital resembles Madrid more than any other city I have ever seen. The architecture is the Moorish-Spanish style, into which some Aztec modifications have been wi-ought by the new-world builders. The light, airy appearance of an American city is absent for there are no frame structures anywhere. The square, flat-roofed buildings, with walls thick enough to withstand any earthquake shock, are two or three stories in height and built round a patio, or courtyard, the centre of which is open to the sky. The old architects were not hampered by such paltry considera- tions as the price of lots, and so they built veritable palaces with wide corridors and rooms lofty and huge. Through many of these rooms 48 Mexico and Her People To-day you might easily drive a carriage. There are parlours as large as public halls, and through- out all one notes the grandiose ideas of the race. The houses, of stone or brick covered with stucco, are built clear up to the sidewalk so that there is no tinge of green in front. The Mexican is not particular about the exterior of his home, but expends his thought and money on the open court within. The plainness of the outside is relieved only by the large gate, or door, which is also the carriage drive-way, and the neat little, iron-grated balconies on which the windows open from the upper stories. These balconies afford a convenient place for the women of the household to see what is pass- ing on the street, and also for the senorita, or young lady, to watch the restless pacing to and fro of the love-stricken youth who is '' playing bear "in front of the house. The great door- way, which is carefully barred and bolted at night, and strictly guarded by the porter during the day, is the only entrance to the patio, which, in the better class of homes, is adorned with pretty gardens, statuary and fountains. Many of them contain an open plunge bath. Through the wide windows one catches glimpses of fas- cinating interiors, and through the broad door- ways the passer-by on the street gets many a The Capital 49 pretty view of the courtyards, and of these miniature gardens. One or two rows of living- apartments extend around and above the court, with broad corridors in front handsomely paved with tile, protected by balustrades and adorned with flowers and vines. Above, the red tiles of the roof add a little additional col- our to the scene. There are no cellars nor chimneys. The latter were never introduced because of the mildness of the climate. In the courts protected from the winds, the people keep on the sunny side when it is cool and hide from the same orb when it is hot. Charcoal fires are used for cooking and heat when it be- comes necessary. Cellars are made impossible because of the marshy nature of the soil. It will be recalled that Tenochtitlan, the Az- tec capital, has been called the New World Venice, whose streets were once canals. It must have been a gay and picturesque scene when the fair surface of its waters was re- splendent with shining cities and flowering islets. The waters have since receded until Lake Texcoco, at its nearest point, is three miles distant. Mexico is now a more prosaic city of streets and cross-streets which extend from north to south and from east to west. Some of the principal thoroughfares are broad, 50 Mexico and Her People To-day paved with asphalt and well kept; but many are quite narrow, and especially is this true of the streets called lanes, though devoted to business. There is no exclusive residence sec- tion, except in the new additions, and many of the homes of the old families are found sand- wiched in between stores. It is a difficult mat- ter to become familiar with the names of the streets, for they are more than nine hundred in number, and a street generally has a differ- ent name for each block. If several blocks have the same name, as, for instance, Calle de San Francisco, one of the finest streets, and on or near which are some of the largest hotels, finest stores and richest private dwellings, then it is First San Francisco, Second San Francisco, etc. A few years ago the streets were re-named. All the streets extending east and west were called avenidas, and the north and south streets calles, each continuous thoroughfare being given but one name. The people, however, in this land of legend and tradition, clung so tena- ciously to the former designations that they have practically been restored. Some of the old names of streets commemorated historical events, as, for instance, the Street of the Cinco de Mayo, which is in remembrance of the vie- The Capital 61 tory of the Mexicans over the French at Puebla in 1862. Others are named in honour of men noted in the history of Mexico. Many relig- ious terms appear, such as the street of Jesus, Sanctified Virgin, Holy Ghost, Sepulchres of the Holy Sabbath, and the like. Others owe their names to some incident or legend, which is both interesting and mysterious. Of the latter class may be mentioned the Street of the Sad Indian, Lane of Pass if You Can, Street of the Lost Child, Street of the Wood Owls, Lane of the Eat, Bridge of the Raven and Street of the Walking Priest. The Street of the CofiSn Makers is now known as the Street of Death. It is a thoroughfare of one block, and is one of the few streets that still preserves its ancient caste, for it is devoted exclusively to the makers of coffins. All of the coffins are made by hand. It is a gloomy street and there are cleaner spots on the face of the earth. Mexico is a very cosmopolitan city. Its three hundred and seventy-five thousand inhabitants include representatives from nearly every na- tion of the earth. The Indians are vastly in the majority, and they are the pure and orig- inal Mexicans. The Creoles, who are descend- ants of Europeans, generally Spanish, call themselves the Mexicans and rank second in 52 Mexico and Her People To-day number. They form the real aristocratic body from whom come the representative Mexicans. They are not all dark, but a blonde is a rare specimen. Most of them have an olive-brown colour, thus showing the mixture of Indian blood, for in early days it was not considered a mesalliance for even a Spanish officer of high rank to marry an Aztec maiden of the better class. The old families cling tenaciously to the great estates, or haciendas, many of which have remained intact for centuries. Quite a number can even trace their estates back to the original grants from the king of Spain. Many of these hacendados, or landed proprietors, enjoy princely incomes from their lands, and nearly all of them own residences in the capital. They maintain elaborate establishments and keep four times as many servants as would be found in an American house. The average Mexican does not care for busi- ness. Neither is he an inventor or originator, for he is content to live as his ancestors have lived. Nearly all lines of commerce and indus- try are in the hands of foreigners. The Ger- mans monopolize the hardware trade; the French conduct nearly all the dry goods stores ; the Spaniards are the country's grocers; and The Capital 53 the Aiiiericaus aud English control the rail- road, electric and mining industries. All these interests centre in the City of Mexico. Rail- roads are not very numerous until you ap- proach the Valley of Mexico where they con- verge from all directions. The hum of indus- try is apparent here as nowhere else in the whole republic. The Mexicans boast of their capital, but they often forget the debt they owe to foreigners, for all the modern improvements have been installed by alien races and outside capital. It is another foreign invasion but with a pacific mission. The American colony alone in that city numbers more than six thousand persons, and the number is constantly increas- ing. Hatred of the American has almost dis- appeared, and the incomers are cordially wel- comed. There are two flourishing clubs around which the social life of the expatriated Ameri- cans centre. The society of the capital, and indeed of the whole country, is very diverse. What might be said of one class would not apply to another. The differences of dress and customs alone make known the heterogeneousness of the popu- lation. They all use the same language and all classes are brought together on a common level in their religion. No other nation has ever 54 Mexico and Her People To-day made such complete conquests as Spain. She not only subjugated the lands but forced her language, as well as religion, upon the con- quered races. The English have succeeded in extending their sway over a large part of the world, but in no instance have they been able to accomplish these two results with the native population. The priests of Spain went hand in hand with the conquistador es, and, within a few generations after the conquest of Mexico by Cortez, the Spanish language was univer- sally used and the Indians were at least nom- inal Catholics. The climate of the City of Mexico is delight- ful. It is neither hot nor cold. It is too far south to be cold and the altitude, seven thou- sand, four hundred and thirty-four feet above the level of the sea, is too great to be hot. The temperature usually ranges from sixty-five to eighty-five, but sometimes goes as high as ninety, and as low as thirty-five, and frosts occasionally are experienced. The mornings and evenings are cool and at midday it is al- ways hot. There is a great difference in the temperature between the sunny and shady side of the street. Only dogs and Americans take the sunny side, the Mexicans say. The rainy and dry seasons occur with great regularity, the The Capital 55 former lasting from May to October. It is the best season in the year although most visitors go there in winter. The rains always occur in the afternoon and usually cease before dark. At this time, too, all nature takes on a beautiful shade of green which replaces the rather dull landscape of the dry season. There is also a brisk, electric condition of the atmosphere that is decidedly exhilarating and a good tonic. This mildness of climate has greatly influ- enced the life of the capital. The streets, ex- cept during the noon siesta, are full of people at all times. To judge from the crowds, one might think the capital a city of a million peo- ple. In the morning the women go to mass garbed in black, generally wearing a black shawl over the head. Occasionally a black lace mantilla is seen half-concealing, half-exposing the olive-brown face, and bright, sparkling eyes of a senorita. Shoppers are out and business is active. The women of the wealthier classes sit in their carriages and have the goods brought out to them, or go to a private room where articles are exhibited by clerks. They think that it is unbecoming to stand at the counters, although the American plan of shop- ping is becoming quite popular in recent years. About the middle of the afternoon the crowds 56 Mexico and Her People To-day again appear, and a little later the streets begin to fill with carriages. Nowhere, not even in Paris, have I observed so many carriages as can be seen here on any pleasant afternoon. They form one continuous, slow-moving line of many miles. The procession moves out San Francisco Street through the Alameda, along the Paseo de la Reforma, and then into the beautiful park surrounding the Castle of Cha- pultepec which is set with great cypresses, said to antedate the conquest. The cavalcade winds around through the various drives at the base of the rock, along the shores of the lake, past the castle and back to the city. The carriages go out on one side and return on the other, leaving the central portion for riders. It is a sight that never wearies for one to sit on a bench and watch the motley throng of people driving, riding on horseback and promenading. An oriental exclusiveness is observed by ladies of the upper class who always ride in closed car- riages. All kinds of vehicles are to be seen, from fine equipages with liveried drivers and footmen, to the poorest cab in the city with its disreputable driver and broken-down horses, fit only for the bull-ring. There are many horsemen and the Mexicans are always excellent riders. Their horses are The Capital 57 Lilliputian in size but fast and enduring. The saddle, bridle and trappings are frequently gorgeous with their silver ornaments and im- mense stirrups fancifully worked and shaped. The rider is often a picture wonderful to behold from the heavy silver spurs which he wears, to the sombrero of brown or yellow felt with a brim ten to fifteen inches wide and a crown equally as high, the whole covered with heavy gilt cord formed into a sort of rope. Then there is the dude or fop, who is well named in Mexico. He is called a " lajartija " which means a ^'^ little lizard." He used to dress in such close-fitting and stiff costumes that he had not much more freedom of motion than the stiff little lizard. Now he is the dandy who is generally seen standing on a public comer, wearing a. French cutaway suit, American patent leather shoes and an English stovepipe hat, with his fiingers closed over the indispensa- ble cigarette. In the evening the populace attend the thea- tre or some social function. Sunday is the day of all others for recreation, and, with the aver- age inhabitant of Mexico, is one continuous and eternal round of pleasure. After morning service the entire day is devoted to pleasure. Band concerts are always given by the military 58 Mexico and Her People To-day bands on the Plaza in the morning, in the Ala- meda early in the afternoon, and at Ohapulte- pec about five o'clock. Then there is the bull- fight which occurs only on Sundays and holi- days. The average crowd in the City of Mexico is a good natured and peaceable one. The city Indian and his country cousin, the peon from the plantation, join the crowd on a feast day with their numerous progeny. They are not the pleasantest neighbours m the world for both have the odour of garlic and pulque and their baths are of the annual variety. That the little brown man is a peon is no fault of his. His uncleanliness is, in a measure, the result of centuries of neglect, and more par- ticularly of a scarcity of water at his home. It is possible that if he had the water his con- dition would be just the same. Though he is poor and down-trodden, there is nothing of the anarchist about him. He is absolutely devoid of envy or malice; and withal his spirits are gay and he is as generous to his family or friends as his finances permit. The artificial refinements of modern civilization have not yet spoiled him, and there is a pleasant, even if malodorous, naturalness about him. In no city do ancient and modern customs The Capital 59 come into such intimate contrast as in the City of Mexico. Nowhere is a greater mixture of races to be seen than here. There are many tribes of Indians speaking scores of dialects, and there are mestizos of various degrees of mixture with African, American and European blood. Types of four centuries can be seen in any group on one of the plazas. The Plaza Mayor is a great, imposing, central square of fourteen acres in the centre of the city, and on its walks all the types can be seen at their best. Men and women come into the city through the streets lighted by electricity, bear- ing immense loads on their heads and backs rather than use a wagon. Peddlers carry around jars of water for sale just as in the olden times. Indians, who are almost pure Aztecs, pass along, taking the middle of the street in Indian file. Well dressed men in black broadcloth suits and wearing silk hats go by. The women of the middle class add colour to the scene with the red and blue rehosas, some- times covering the head, or tied across the chest and holding an infant at the back. Nearly all the passers-by show in their colour that they can claim kinship with the hosts of Montezuma. The general effect is kaleidoscopic but enter- taining. The great cathedral on the north side 60 Mexico and Her People To-day of the Plaza is the one place where all are brought together and class distinction oblit- erated. Visit the cathedral any day and you may see an Indian with his pack on his back side by side with a young woman who may inherit a dozen titles. There are no select, high-priced, aristocratic pews for rent, but all meet by a common genuflection before the sa- cred altars. The poor Indian may not' under- stand all the pomp and ceremony, the music of the vested choirs, or the solemn chanting by the priests, but it fills a deep want in his nature and he is satisfied. At one side of the Plaza Mayor once stood the great Aztec Teocalli, the Temple of Sac- rifice. This was a high imposing altar reached by a flight of more than a hundred steps. From the top was a magnificent view of the entire valley, and it was from this point that the envi- ous eyes of Cortez looked out upon this beau- tiful scene. The altar was dedicated to the Aztec war god Huitzilopochtli, and here, to ap- pease the wrath of this terrible god, human sac- rifices were offered. The breast was cut open and the heart, still palpitating, plucked out and placed upon the altar. The bodies were cast down to the ground, whence they were taken and prepared for the banquet table. The Capital 61 A part of the space once covered by this gruesome but majestic pile, is now occupied by the Monte de Piedad, or " mountain of mercy," one of the most unique charities in the world. It is nothing more or less than a gigantic pawn-shop, but it is one of the most beneficient institutions in the country. The Count of Eegla, a noted personage in Mexico, founded this institution by a gift of three hun- dred thousand dollars. He did this in order that the poor and needy, and the impoverished members of families once genteel, might secure small sums upon personal property at low rates of interest, instead of becoming involved in the meshes of the blood-sucking vampires who prey upon this class of unfortunates. About three- fourths of the actual value of the property pledged as fixed by appraisers, will be loaned. If the interest is not paid, the property is kept for seven months, when it is offered for sale at a fixed price. If not disposed of in another five months it is sold at auction. The truly remarkable feature of this estab- lishment is, that if a greater sum is realized than the amount of the loan and interest, the excess is placed to the credit of the owner, or his heirs, and will be kept for one hundred years, after which time it reverts to the insti- 62 Mexico and Her People To-day tntion. Many old heirlooms of former gran- dees, Aztec curios, diamonds, gold ornaments and even family gods have passed through this organization of charity. For more than a cen- tury it has existed, having survived all the civil wars, revolutions and changes of government. The original capital has been more than doubled by the forfeitures, and many branches of this parent institution are operated in the capital and in several of the large cities of the republic. It is an example that might be sug- gested to some of our multi-millionaires who do not know what to do with their vast accu- mulations of wealth. Even the funerals are conducted in a strange way. With the exception of funerals among the wealthy, the street cars are universally used. The enterprising owner of the street car system some years ago acting on the trust idea, bought up all the hearses and introduced fu- neral cars. After a short time the people became accustomed to the new plan, which seemed to give satisfaction. Now, trolley funeral cars of the first, second and third class are furnished at a price varying from five dol- lars for the cheapest class, to a hundred dollars or more for a first-class car. Some of the poor rent cofl&ns which are returned after the burial. The Capital 63 The very poor may be seen carrying their dead on their shoulders to the Campo Santo, or holy ground. Graves are usually sold only for a certain number of years, after which, unless the relatives pay the prescribed fee, the bones are tal^en up and the ground made ready for a new occupant. The dead are soon forgotten. A pile of bones in a corner of the cemetery represents all that is mortal of the generations who passed away not many years ago. There is an entire lack of reverence for the mortal remains of the departed, such as one is accus- tomed to find in our own country. One is re- minded of the couplet " Rattle his bones over the stones, He's only a pauper, whom nobody owns." The City of Mexico is not the healthiest city in the world. On the contrary the death rate is unusually high. The average duration of life is said to be only twenty-six years. This is due in a great measure to infant mortality. Typhoid and malarial fevers are prevalent be- cause of the accumulated drainage of centuries, which lies just a few feet beneath the surface. Pneumonia is common and regarded as very dangerous because of the rarefied air, and pa- tients suffering from this disease are immedi- 64 Mexico and Her People To-day ately transported to lower altitudes for treat- ment. The entire lack of hygiene and sanitary conditions among the peon classes is in a great measure responsible for the unusual percent- age of mortality. Few other cities in the world have such a high rate of deaths compared with the population. Strange it is that the capital was ever built on this low, marshy soil when higher land was available and near at hand. It was one of the great blunders of Cortez, for Mexico might have been made a healthy city. No exigency of commerce dictated its selection, for it is far from the sea coast on either side and was dif- ficult of access before the day of railroads. The new city was built on the site of the old, and the temples of the Christian religion were raised on the sites of the old pagan altars wher- ever possible. A plan of moving the city to higher ground was strongly agitated at one time but the vested interests succeeded in kill- ing this project. It is hoped and believed that when the plans for sewerage are completed, the health conditions will be placed on a par with that of most cities. The authorities are making an honest and earnest effort to carry out these commendable projects. The Capital 65 " Know ye not pulque, Liquor divine, The Angels in heaven Prefer it to wine." Tlius sings the lower class Mexican to wliom this liquor has become a curse. To it is due much of his poverty and many of his crimes. For it he will neglect his family and steal from his employer. It does not contain a large per- centage of alcohol, but, taken in large quan- tities, as is customary among these people, it puts them in a dopy condition which they sleep off. One railroad brings in a train-load each day, and, besides, large quantities are brought in by other lines. There are sixteen hundred pulque saloons in the capital, but they are all closed at six o'clock by a law which is strictly enforced. The pulque-shop betrays itself by its odour, as well as by the crowds of poorly dressed and even filthy men and women who surround its doors and press around the coun- ter. It is a gaily decorated affair and is often- times adorned in flaring colours inside and out, with reds, blues, greens and yellows predomi- nating, and frequently with a huge, rude paint- ing on the outside walls. In some of the shops you will find a curious string knotted in a pecul- iar manner or strung with shells. This is a sur- 66 Mexico and Her People To-day vival of the Aztec method of counting by means of beads, or shells, strung together. As one writer says, **the pulque shop, not- withstanding its evil influence upon the life of the people, presents a very picturesque appear- ance to the tourist who has never seen anything like it before. The dress of the people, the curious, vivid colours of the walls of the build- ing, the semi-barbaric appearance of the dec- orations within, the curious semi-symbolic pic- tures upon the walls, the unaccustomed group- ings of the people, all combine to attract the attention of the stranger in Mexico. ' ' In the naming of the pulque-dens the imag- ination is allowed full play. I quote from a Mexican periodical the names of some of these resorts: A place in the suburbs of Mexico is termed the " Delight of Bacchus." One is called '' The Seventh Heaven," another '' The Food of the Gods," while still another bears the euphonious title of " The Land of the Lo- tus." '' A Night of Delight " is another place near ' ' The Heart 's Desire. ' ' The above names are commonplace by the side of the following: " The Hang-out of John the Baptist," " The Eetreat of the Holy Ghost," " The Delight of the Apostle," " The Eetreat of the Holy Vir- gin," '' The Mecca of Delight," and '' The The Capital 67 Foiuitain of the Augels." Nothing disrespect- ful is intended by these appellations but they sound very sacrilegious to us. There is, however, a brighter side to the In- dian life in the City of Mexico. In one corner of the Zocalo, and covering a part of the site formerly occupied by the great sacificial altar, is the flower-market. This flower-market is always attractive and a never-ending source of interest to the tourist. Immense bouquets of the choicest flowers are sold so cheap that the price seems almost absurd. By judicious bargaining a few cents will purchase a large and varied supply of roses, violets and helio- trope, which only dollars could buy from a New York florist. No hot-houses are needed here at any season, for in this climate flowers bloom all the year round, and one crop succeeds another in a never-ending succession. The Mexican Indian is a lover of flowers. It is one of the redeeming traits of his character. He is not always particular as to his personal ap- pearance; he may be unkempt and untidy to look upon; but he loves flowers, is prodigal in his use of them and shows good taste in their arrangement. This taste is innate, is no doubt inherited from his Aztec ancestors, and has survived the oppressions and exactions of the 68 Mexico and Her People To-day- succeeding centuries. This love for flowers finds expression even in his worship, and it is no uncommon thing to find flowers before the image of the Virgin, and such an offering is one of the expressions of his good will. When we consider that our forefathers were taught to worship God with the first fruits of their hus- bandry, it is not surprising that this primitive and ignorant race should still find use in their worship for these beautiful products of a prod- igal nature. The gardens and parks of the City of Mex- ico attain a luxuriant growth that cannot be equalled in our northern cities. These breath- ing-places where one can sit amid scenes of tropical verdure, and admire the bright tints of the flowers while shielded from the hot sun by the broad-leafed foliage of the plants, are truly delightful spots for an American to visit. They contrast so strongly with the cheerless appearance of the streets. In the centre of the large Plaza Mayor lies the Zocalo, a little green oasis in the great paved waste. It is in the very heart of the city's throbbing life, and everything either has its beginning or ending on this imposing square. On one side of the Plaza lies the Palacio Na- cional which has stood there for more than The Capital 69 two centuries. It covers the site of the ancient palace of Montezuma, and has an imposing facade of nearly seven hundred feet. Over the main entrance hangs the Liberty Bell of Mex- ico which was rung by Hidalgo on the first call to independence at Dolores, where it had so often smnmoned the people to mass. The im- mense windows which look out upon the Plaza open into the various rooms where the official business of the executive department of the republic is transacted. Other parts of this immense structure, for it is almost a square building enclosing an open court, are occupied by the legislative chambers and barrack rooms for several regiments of soldiers. A few blocks away from the Plaza lies the Alameda, which is the park of the better classes. Every city has an alameda, as the vis- itor soon learns, but this is the alameda of Mexico. It is a pretty place, and, with its beau- tiful trees, flowers and fountains, forms a re- sort for the fashionable people, who congregate here on Sundays and feast days to listen to the military bands. The visitor can almost lose himself in this part, for the view is circum- scribed on every hand by the dense shrubbery. It is on the subject of the Paseo de la Ee- forma that the Mexican becomes enthusiastic. 70 Mexico and Her People To-day This beautiful boulevard extends for a distance of two miles from a place near the Alameda to Chapultepec. It is a smooth thoroughfare averaging five hundred feet in width, with promenades on each side shaded by trees under which are stone seats, and with paved drive- ways in the centre. Here and there the Paseo widens into circles, called glorietas, in the cen- tre of which are placed statues. Those already erected include statues to Charles IV of Spain, Columbus and Cuautemoc, the Aztec warrior and emperor. To Maximilian is due the credit for the Paseo, and a more beautiful boulevard cannot be found in Europe or America. I have purposely described the old features of the city and the unique characteristics before touching upon the more modern innovations. The average visitor would follow that plan, for he would be more interested in the unusual than in that with which he is more or less familiar. Like all capitals and large cities affected by commercialism, the City of Mexico is fast becoming cosmopolitan. The traveller who visited it ten, or even five, years ago would be astonished at the changes wrought by im- provements. The fine system of electric lights, the excellent electric traction lines with mod- The Capital 71 ern, commodious cars, the asphalted streets and the attractive new suburbs of an entirely foreign architecture, link the old with the new, the sixteenth with the twentieth century. A city hindered by a racial conservatism, and obstructed at every turn by tradition, does not become entirely modern in a decade, but the trend is there and its progress has been really remarkable. It will never be a city of sky- scrapers for a hard stratum is not encountered until a depth of a hundred and forty feet is reached. A new and modem hotel is more needed than anything else. There are plenty of hotels of the Mexican kind, where it is almost impossi- ble to find a room with an outside window. All the rooms simply have an opening on the patio which answers for both door and window. In cool weather which is sometimes experienced here, there is no means of heating these rooms except by an open pan of coals, which is not very satisfactory to one accustomed to modern steam-heated hotels or a good stove. The national government controls the federal district within which is situated the City of Mexico, much the same as the Dictrict of Co- lumbia, in our own land, and is assisted by a city council. Plans have been drawn for fifty 72 Mexico and Her People To-day million dollars ' worth of public buildings, many of which are already under way. The fine new post-office which has been building for several years is now occupied by that department. It is a beautiful structure of the medieval Span- ish style, and is a striking departure from the other public buildings. It is four stories high, equipped with every convenience and is fin- ished within and without in elaborate style. A new legislative palace is under construc- tion, which is the most pretentious building yet planned. Its estimated cost is $20,000,000. Opposite the post-office a national theatre is being erected to cater to the amusement lovers, which is designed to be the finest theatre in the new world. An entire block is being razed to make room for the Panteon Nacional — a resting place for Mexico's illustrious dead. "Within the marble walls of this unique memo- rial will rest all that is mortal of her heroes. An army and navy building, a museum of art and a department of public works are among the other improvements planned for the capital. These buildings are being scattered over the city instead of following the group plan as de- signed at "Washington. The reason for this has been a desire to have every section of the city benefited and beautified by these public struc- The Capital 73 tiires. The year 1910 marked the centennial of Mexican independence. The month of Septem- ber was almost wholly given up to celebrations of this event in the capital. A number of pub- lic buildings were dedicated during the celebra- tions. Among these were a new insane asylum and several fine new public school buildings, which greatly added to the educational facili- ties of the city. A magnificent new monument to independence, recently erected on the Paseo, was dedicated with great ceremony. A num- ber of gifts were made by foreign colonies and governments. Not the least of these was a monument to Washington, which was presented by the resident Americans. The ceremonies and functions of the centennial celebration were very elaborate, and the capital has been beautified in many ways as a result. CHAPTEE IV THE VALLEY OF ANAHUAC The dim traditionary history of Mexico shows us shadowy tribes flitting across the stage, each acting its part like the different performers in a vaudeville show, and then mak- ing way for other actors. The Valley of Mex- ico, or Anahuac, meaning '' near the water,'* seems to have been the centre of the civiliza- tion of these early tribes. It is a beautiful valley nearly sixty miles in length and thirty in breadth, and is enclosed by a wall of moun- tains which circumscribe the view in every direction. Six shallow lakes lie in this hollow: Texcoco, Xochimilco, San Cristobal, Xaltocan, Zumpango and Chalco, of which the first named is the nearest to the city and lies distant about three miles. It is easy to believe that the waters of these lakes at one time entirely sur- rounded the ancient city of Tenochtitlan, for within historic times their shores have greatly receded. 74 The Valley of Anahuac 75 The history of these early races rests mostly upon tradition ; yet a diversity of architectural ruins, and the few meagre records that remain, present certain general facts. These positive proofs leave no doubt that this valley was in- habited from a very early period by tribes or nations which made distinct advances in civili- zation. These tribes had developed certain of the useful arts and had evolved a social system that exhibited some refinement. The first of these races of whom we have reliable record are the Toltecs, who appeared in the Valley of Mexico in the seventh century at almost the same time that Mohammed was spreading his religion over Asia and Africa. Their sway lasted about five centuries, when ithey disappeared as silently and mysteriously as they came. These peaceful and agricultural people were succeeded by the Chichimecs, a more barbarous race, who came from the north. They in turn were followed by the Nahuals. Lastly came the Aztecs, who entered the valley about 1196, and reached a higher state of civilization than any of their predecessors. War was their choicest profession, for they considered that warriors slain in battle were immediately transported to scenes of ineffable bliss. They offered human 76 Mexico and Her People To-day sacrifices to their gods. Prescott tells us of a procession of captives two miles long, and numbering seventy thousand persons who were sacrificed at one time. This is incredible, for at that rate the population would soon have been exhausted even in this prolific land. Fur- thermore we know that the Aztecs were not always successful in war, and may have fur- nished victims from their own numbers, for sacrifice to the gods of the other nations in the same land. The Aztecs were clever workers in gold and silver, and were acquainted with a number of arts that are lost to-day. Their picture writ- ings bear witness to a clever fancy and fertile invention of symbols. The numerous idols show their skill in carving and a true artistic instinct. Many antiquites have been exhumed from the swampy soil on which the capital city is built, in making excavations for improve- ments. The National Museum is a treasure house of these relics and it would take a volume to describe them. The huge Sacrificial Stone, which is generally supposed to have been placed on the top of the great altar, is preserved there. It also houses the horrible image of the god Huitzilopochtli, and a varied assortment of in- ferior gods, goddesses, and other objects of CALWDARIO AZTECi PICORA DEL SOL CHllutSD I OICIlMOnC oil IN nt i?3o >L pntciiriKS t UlllVCUClfflIM 4A [t MUI Mr Or.JOuCC /t MAIM Of sucw fui a^cusit locsu •Jonouin cnicc* MKODll M M i< Toimt occra i«i»l or BttOIClW «?i imnion* i sit »«u^f mcio uti r> ncnsioDi ■ THE CALENDAR STONE The Valley of Anahuac 77 worship. But the most celebrated antiquity — the one showing the greatest advancement — is the Calendar Stone. This stone was buried for centuries, and when resurrected was placed in the west tower of the cathedral. From this place it was removed a few years ago and placed in the museum. It is a mighty stone, eleven feet and eight inches in diameter, and weighs more than twenty tons. The Aztecs divided the year into eighteen months of twenty days each, and then arbitrarily added five days to complete the year. " Let us follow the cross, and if we have faith we will conquer," was the motto on the banner of Cortez. It was with this spirit that he led his little band over the mountains and into the heart of the empire of Montezuma, late in the fall of 1519. He was met by that sov- ereign, tradition says, on the site of the pres- ent Hospital of Jesus, with every manifesta- tion of friendliness. For several months they were the honoured guests of the Aztec chief, but at length the aggressions of the Spaniards changed friendship to hate and the Aztecs, ris- ing in their wrath, chased the invaders from the city. Driven before the infuriated natives like sheep, they fled over the present road to the suburban village of Tacuba, and many were 78 Mexico and Her People To-day those who fell. This rout of the Spaniards has been painted with wonderful vividness by Gen. Lew Wallace in " The Fair God." It was an awful night of despair, that first day of July, 1520, and the Spaniards who es- caped named it La Noche Triste, " the sorrow- ful night." The pursuit stopped at the little town of Popotla. In this village is a great cypress tree whose branches are blasted by the storms of centuries. For a moment the strong will of Cortez gave way and he sat down upon a stone under the spreading branches of this tree and wept. Whether he wept most for his fallen soldiers or disappointment over his ig- nominious defeat, we are not told by the chron- iclers. This tree is now noted as el arhol de la noche triste, or " the tree of the sorrowful night." A high iron fence protects the ancient relic from the souvenir vandals. The Spaniards retreated beyoifd the valley to their allies, the Tlaxcalans, at Cholula. Ee- inforcements and supplies arriving, they re- turned a few months later and began the memorable siege of Tenochtitlan, and made a triumphal entry into that city on the 13th of August, 1521. Then Guatemotzin, the last of the Aztec emperors, wept in his turn, because the sacred fires of the temple had for ever gone The Valley of Anahuac 79 out, aud bis people would henceforth be slaves. *' Take that dagger," he said, " and free this spirit." But, no, torture must come before death, for Cortez fain would learn where the gold was hidden that had so suddenly disap- peared. Today, in the City of Mexico, a statue stands in one of the circles of the famous Paseo, which commemorates this great warrior and his torture by the Spanish chieftain. This monument is greatly cherished by the Indians, who hold annual festivals in his honour and decorate it with a profusion of flowers and wreaths. The great Valley of Mexico is without a nat- ural outlet, and this fact has caused seven in- undations of the capital during exceptionally rainy seasons. One of the lakes, Zumpango, is twenty-five feet higher than the city and drains into Texcoco, from which the waters spread over the city. When the first serious inunda- tions came in 1553, 1580 and 1604, the project of removing the city to a higher level was strongly agitated. It was only the loss of mil- lions of dollars of property that prevented this action. Then the idea of draining this valley was definitely adopted and the work was begun in 1607. A tunnel was decided upon and fifteen thousand Indians were set at work 80 Mexico and Her People To-day sinking shafts and driving the tunnel in both directions. Within a year a tunnel four miles long had been completed. This tunnel eventu- ally caved in, so that very little good was real- ized from it and efforts were made to convert it into an open cut. But this undertaking was not finished until two centuries later. It is a great trench, however, with an average depth of from one hundred and fifty to two hundred feet, and from three hundred to seven hundred feet in width at the top. It is called the Tajo de NocMstongo, or Nochistongo cut, and its only use now is as an entrance for the Mexican Central railway. Even this waterway did not drain the valley, remarkable engineering feat as it was, but a new canal was constructed by American engineers a few years ago which suc- cessfully accomplishes the work of draining these shallow lakes and carrying off the sewer- age of the city. The first Aztecs who settled in this valley lived almost entirely in the marshes and lakes, we are told, because of the hostility of their fierce neighbours. They were thus obliged to depend almost wholly upon the products of these watered lands for their sustenance, and they acquired some strange and — we would say — depraved tastes. A reminder of those The Valley of Anahuac 81 days is seen in the cakes made of the eggs of a curious marsh-fly, which are sold in the mar- ket of the City of Mexico today. The flies them- selves are pounded into a paste and sold after being boiled, but the eggs are preferred. The Indians collect the eggs in a systematic manner. Bundles of a certain kind of sedge are planted in Lake Texcoco and the insects deposit their eggs thereon in great quantities. These bun- dles as soon as covered are shaken over pieces of cloth and replaced for another supply. The eggs thus collected are made into a paste and form a favourite article of food, especially during Lent. It is interesting to learn what different races regard as toothsome dainties. In Southern Mexico I have seen bushels of common grass- hoppers sold in the markets as a delicacy, re- minding one of the locusts and wild honey used as food in Biblical times. In other parts of Mexico the honey-ant is greatly sought after for food. The natives of Central America are partial to the iguana, a large lizard sometimes reaching a length of three or four feet, and pre- fer it to beef. After all there is no accounting for tastes. A man who eats snails might criti- cize another who relishes oysters. And per- haps the man who want his cheese '' ripe " 82 Mexico and Her People To-day should not criticize the poor Indian who has inherited a taste for the eggs of the fly. There are many places of interest round about the City of Mexico which are easily reached. One should not fail to visit the fa- mous jardines flotandos or " floating gardens " where the beautiful flowers sold in the market are grown. These gardens, called by the Az- tecs chinampas, are reached by the Viga Canal. The inquirer is told to take a gondola and float down to them. The name gondola excites pleas- ant anticipations of a delightful trip. Enter- ing a mule-car at the Plaza Mayor the canal is soon reached after traversing a number of nar- row streets which would not especially delight the fastidious traveller. The gondoliers take the stranger almost by force and urge him into one of the flea-infested boats that abound at the landing, and which more resemble a collection of mud-scows than any other kind of floating fleet. Instead of using oars these queer gon- doliers with the picture hats pole the boat through the muddy waters of La Viga, stirring up odours which cause the passenger to wish that he was not gifted with the sense of smell, or that he could temporarily dispense with breathing. However, there is life in the stream and on the banks that is typically Mexican, for 'i~M ^K ypPBi'^ y|#'^ ^^ fmaM npiyi ^^im ^^ "" ^M» ^pj!jj2Bi8MHBBBP^' PiU"' SCENES OX THE VIGA CANAL The Valley of Anahuac 83 boats are constantly passing up and down. Oc- casionally a load of Indians will float by play- ing native airs on guitars and other string instruments, with the light-heartedness and gaiety peculiar to this race. On the bank are scattered many native thatch huts around which idle natives group. Along the road pass men and women going to and from the city with loads on their heads or on their backs. The " floating gardens " are always just beyond. They are first at Santa Anita but, when this place is reached, they are at Mexicalcingo. Arrived there the visitor is sent to Ixtacalco, and then he is forwarded to Xochimulco, and so the real floating gardens are never reached. The fact is that they do not float and perhaps never did. This characteristic only exists in the imagination, for it sounds romantic to speak of gardens that can be moved around and an- chored at will. Disembarking at an unattractive mud and thatch village bearing the charming name of Santa Anita, self constituted guides are waiting to conduct you to the object of your visit, some- thing which does not literally exist. Yet the '' floating gardens " are all about you at this place. They are simply marsh lands with ca- nals leading in and out and crossways by means 84 Mexico and Her People To-day of which the gardener can reach all parts in his boat. The earth may yield somewhat if you step upon it, but they do not float. It is possi- ble, and historians so assert, that floating gar- dens did exist in reality during the Aztec inva- sion. These people were frequently driven to dire extremities to secure food. They may have adopted the plan of making floating gardens which could be moved about as necessity com- pelled. This was done by culling masses of vegetation with its thick entwined stems and pouring upon this mat the rich mud dredged from the bottom of the lake. Then, as the masses settled, more mud was put on until the whole anchored upon the bottom of the lake and became immovable. The gardens look beautiful, covered as they are with the many- coloured blossoms. By means of the canals the roots are kept thoroughly moist at all times, and the plants thrive luxuriantly. This canal of La Viga was formerly a great trade route, for a large part of the natives came to the City of Mexico by this way. It leads back into regions where dwell full blooded Az- tecs who speak a language that is said to be almost the pure ancient tongue. These natives can be distinguished from all others on the street and in the market by their features and The Valley of Anahuac 85 peculiar dress. They are clannish and keep by themselves, except in the intercourse made necessary by barter and trade. They are proud of their lineage and rejoice in the fact that they have not mingled with the other native races. Tacuba, distant only a few miles, is an inter- esting little village, and has many gardens and a fine old church. It is a good place to study the people and get snap-shots of quaint life. Its principal distinction is that it was a proud city when Tetlepanquetzaltzin was king once upon a time. Texcoco at the time of the con- quest was the capital of the Tezcucans, who were a race in alliance with the Aztecs, but it is now principally in ruins, for its glory has passed away. El Desierto was once the home of the Carmelite monks and is frequently vis- ited now in its decay. Coyoacan was the first capital of Mexico, for Cortez established the seat of government there for a time while the new city was being built. Tacubaya is the home of the wealthy as well as the sporting element. It has beautiful gar- dens within the adobe walls surrounding the homes of the opulent. It is on higher ground and should have been the site of the capital city itself. It is also called the Monte Carlo of Mexico, for gamblers of all sorts and conditions 86 Mexico and Her People To-day congregate here in booths or under umbrellas, and you can lose any sum at games of chance as at that famous resort along the shores of the blue Mediterranean. Games, music, dancing, cock-fights, and bull-fights are a few of the at- tractions to amuse and entertain the visitor, and relieve him from the burden of carrying around the weighty silver pesos. In all this beautiful and historic Valley of Mexico there is no more beautiful spot, or none around which so many memories cling, as Cha- pultepec, the Hill of the Grasshoppers. His- toric and beautiful Chapultepec ! A great grove of noble cypresses draped with masses of Span- ish moss surrounds this rock, and between the trees and along the shores of a pretty little lake wind enchanting walks. One grand old cypress called Montezuma's tree rises to a height of one hundred and seventy feet. It is a magnifi- cent breathing spot — with which no park that I have ever seen in America compares. Legend says that on the top of this rock was situated the palace of Montezuma, and it is probably only legend. No doubt that emperor often rested himself under the friendly shade of the great ahuehuete, and reflected on the glory of his empire before the disturbing foreigners came. The present Castle of Chapultepec dates The Valley of Anahuac 87 from 1783 when it was begim by one of the viceroys. Later viceroys, presidents and an emperor added to the original building until now it is a palace indeed but not a beautiful structure. Ill-fated Maximilian made this his home and added greatly to the beauty of the grounds. It is now the White House of Mexico although occupied only a part of the year by the president. Perhaps nowhere in the world does there exist a more beautiful scene than that which unfolds to the view from this rock. All around is the great sweep of plain with its wealth of cultivated fields; the distant mountain range with its ever varying outline ; the snow-capped twin peaks, Popocatapetl (seventeen thousand, seven hundred and eighty-two feet) and Ixtac- cihuatl (sixteen thousand and sixty feet), stand- ing like silent sentinels and dominating the horizon; the silver line of the lakes; and be- neath us the fair City of Mexico, the ancient Tenochtitlan. Legend says that Popocatepetl, *' the smoking mountain," and Ixtaccihuatl, ' * the woman in white, ' ' were once living giants but that having displeased the Almighty they were changed to mountains. The woman died and the contour of her body covered with snow can be traced on the summit of the smaller 88 Mexico and Her People To-day peak. The man was doomed to live for ever and gaze on the sleeping form of his beloved. At times when his grief becomes uncontrolla- ble he shakes with his great sobs and pours forth tears of fire. As I stood on that historic rock I thought of the New World Venice described by Pres- cott, '' with its shining cities and flowering islets rocking, as it were, at anchor on the fair bosom of the waters." Rising above all was the great sacrificial altar upon which the sa- cred fires were ever kept burning. Beneath this rock under the friendly branches of the giant cypress Montezuma has no doubt shel- tered himself from the hot sun. Cortez here rested himself after his severe marches. French zouaves in their quaint uniforms have bivouacked in the grove. American blue- coats stacked their arms here after the vic- tory of Molino-del-Ray. And Mexicans now take their siestas under the same friendly shade while other races are robbing them of their wealth. Yes, historic scenes and tragedies have taken place on this plain. Nations have come and gone. Victors have themselves been led away captives, and taskmasters have in turn become slaves. How finite is man or his works in the The Valley of Anahuac 89 presence of this great panorama of nature! Races have come and gone but the mountains endure. Human tragedies have been enacted here but the sky is just as blue and the sun just as bright, as when Cortez looked with envious eyes ujDon this beautiful valley. The mimic play of men, and women and races upon this amphitheatre has scarcely left its imprint. The only occasions when the calm serenity of nature has been disturbed were when the giant Popocatapetl, overcome with grief at the loss of his beloved, has shaken this whole valley with his sobs and poured forth plenteous tears of fire over its fair surface. CHAPTER V THE TROPICS In no country in the world is it possible to move from one extreme of climate to the other in so short a time as in Mexico. Within less than twenty-four hours one can travel from the sun-baked sands of the Gulf coast to the snow-covered, conical peak of one of the great extinct volcanoes, thus traversing every zone of vegetable life from the dense tropical growth of the former to the stunted pines of the latter. By railway it is a journey of only a few hours from the plateaus, at an altitude of eight thousand feet, to the sea level, and a most interesting ride it is. The Mexican Rail- way, which is the oldest railway in the repub- lic, runs from the capital to Vera Cruz and is the best route, for its wonderful engineering feats and beautiful scenery have drawn tour- ists from all parts of the world. Leaving the capital, the road skirts the bank of Lake Tex- cocoi, through a pass in the mountains sur- 90 The Tropics 91 rounding the Valley of Mexico, and across the Plains of Apam, the home of the maguey, for a hmidred and fifty miles before the exciting part of the trip is reached. The descent begins at Esperanza, which lies at the very foot of Mt. Orizaba. Esperanza means ' ' hope ' ' and it is well named for the traveller can '^ hope " for better things as the train approaches the coast. Noah's Ark rests near here, for I saw it with my own eyes la- belled in plain letters, Arc de Noe, but it is now — sad to tell — devoted to the sale of pulque. Esperanza is eight thousand and forty-four feet above the sea and one hundred and twelve miles from Vera Cruz as the track runs, but much nearer as the crow would fly. There is a drop of four thousand, one hundred feet in the next twenty-nine miles and it is one of the grandest rides in the world. In places the road seems like a little shelf on the side of a towering mountain while a yawning chasm awaits the coach below. As soon as Boca del Monte (Mouth of the Mountain) is reached, only a few miles from Esperanza, the downward impetus is felt and all the energy of the curious double-ended English engines is devoted to holding back the heavy train with its human cargo. 92 Mexico and Her People To-day- Passing through a tunnel here, the scene bursts upon the traveller without any warning or prelude, in all its grandeur and magnifi- cence. The engine accommodatingly stops for water so that the passengers have an oppor- tunity to view this wonderful panorama. Mal- trata nestles in the hollow, a dozen miles away by rail, yet the red tiles of the roofs, a red- domed church and the ever-present plaza gleam in the sunshine two thousand feet directly underneath. The valley is almost flat and is divided into squares by hedges and walls and, reflecting every shade of green, looks like a checker-board arrangement of nature. Be- yond the valley, hill succeeds hill until they are lost in the purple haze of the horizon, or are overtopped by snow-capped Orizaba. Indians appear here with beautiful bouquets of roses, tulips and orchids, with their yellow, pink and red centres, for sale. The train passes on over a narrow bridge spanning a deep chasm and down the mountain until Maltrata is reached, where the same Indians will greet you with the same bouquets, for they have climbed down the two thousand feet in less time than it took the train to reach the same level. Leaving Maltrata the road enters a canon called El Infernillo, the Little Hell, goes The Tropics 93 through a tunnel and another beautiful valley, running through fertile fields and by wooded hills, until Orizaba, the border-land of the tropics, is reached. This city at an altitude of four thousand feet is in the tierra templada, the temperate region. This zone is as near paradise in the matter of climate as any location on earth could well be. It retains most of the beauties and few of the annoying insects and tropical fevers of the hot zone. It has the moisture of the lowlands with the cool breezes of the uplands and is well named '^ temperate zone " because of its fine climate and equable temperature. Orizaba is a town of thirty-five thousand people and a very beautiful and interesting place with its palm-shaded streets and low Moorish buildings. Its Alameda is a quaint, shady park with an abundance of flowers and blooming trees. Along the street the orange trees thrust their laden branches out into the highway over the low adobe walls. On the banks of the stream the washerwomen beat their clothes to a snowy white upon the smooth round stones. Life moves along in smooth, easy channels with these people. And it is not to be wondered at, for there is 94 Mexico and Her People To-day A sense of rest To the tired breast In this beauteous Aztec town." Between Orizaba and Cordoba, a distance of sixteen miles, is perhaps the best cultivated section in Mexico. The products of all the zones are mingled and corn and coffee grow side by side as well as peach trees and the banana. Cordoba is just on the border of the tierra caliente, or hot country proper, and is a much smaller city than Orizaba. It is a very old town and was founded as a place of refuge from the malarial fevers of the coast lands. This region is noted for its fine coffee, and there are numberless coffee plantations as well as many sugar haciendas. The Mexican of the tropics can be seen here dressed in immaculate white. Leaving Cordoba dense tropical for- ests of palm and palmetto begin to appear. These alternate with groves of coffee and ba- nanas, gardens of mangoes, fields of pine- apples and other tropical fruits. Nature be- gins to manifest herself in her grandest pro- ductions. Birds of brilliant plumage are seen. The towering trees, rocks and entire surface of the soil are covered with bright flowers such as orchids, oleanders and honeysuckles and luxuriant vines. These and the dense jungles The Tropics 95 are all reminders that the tropics have been reached at last. Soon the train enters Vera Cruz, the city without cabs, the landing-place of the great conquistador and his cohorts. The principal port now, as it has always been since the landing of Cortez on the twenty-first day of April, 1519, is Vera Cruz, or, as he named it. La Villa Rica de Vera Cruz — the Eich City of the True Cross. Most Americans who pass through here leave by the very first train or boat for fear of pestilence. I met one fellow-countryman there who was almost be- side himself because the boat he had expected to take was delayed a couple of days. This city is reputed to be the favourite loafing-place of the stegomyia fasciata whose bite results in the vomito, or yellow fever. If all the sensa- tional reports sent out concerning this city were true then '' Pandora's box was not a circumstance to the evils which Vera Cruz con- tains." I had read in Mr. Ober's excellent work on Mexico of an American consul who died here just thirteen days after reaching the port that his ambition had led him to ; and of the terrible ravages of the scourge when deaths were averaging forty per day. I arrived there after night had set in. Eating a light supper and seeing that my name was duly posted on 96 Mexico and Her People To-day the big blackboard bulletin according to the custom prevailing there, I retired to my room, and only breathed freely after securely draw- ing the mosquito netting around my bed so that it would be impossible for a stegomyia to get through. It was almost a surprise on the following morning to find able-bodied Americans and husky Englishmen pursuing their avocations in an unconcerned way as though such things as yellow fever or smallpox were not to be thought of. Then, again, I was alarmed at the numerous red flags hanging out, which I took to be quarantine flags, for everything is dif- ferent here. Upon investigation this alarm was dispelled, for those places proved to be pulque-shops and the flag meant that a fresh supply of the '' liquor divine " had just been received. It is probably true that Vera Cruz was a hot-bed for the vomito a few years ago, but Mexican statistics report only twelve deaths in 1904 and one hundred and twenty-two in 1905 from this disease, which is not bad for a city of thirty thousand people, where a large proportion of the population cannot be made to obey the ordinary laws of sanitation. I doubt whether the death rate is much greater tiian in our own cities on the Gulf coast. This The Tropics 97 cliauge is due to the better situation that has been brought about by the authorities. An adequate supply of pure water was the first important step in this move for improved conditions. This was secured by utilizing the water of the Jamapa Eiver at a point about twelve miles distant and passing this water through several filtering beds before turning it into the mains which supply the city. A sew- erage system has been constructed, by means of which the sewerage is carried out and dis- charged into deep water so that the harbour will not be contaminated. Disinfecting sta- tions have been established and a plant for the disposition of garbage. Then in addition to the regular force of health officers, there is a large volunteer street cleaning brigade. These volunteer forces are not on the pay-roll and yet they do their work in a thorough manner even if their methods cannot be approved. Their only reward is the enforcement of a fine of five dollars for the protection of their lives. By the natives these street cleaners are called zopilotes but to an American they are plain, everyday buzzards. Hundreds of these birds can be seen perched on the roof-tops or wad- dling through the streets. For centuries the port of ,Vera Cruz was the 98 Me xico and Her People To-day bane of vessel owners for there was no protec- tion from the severe ' ' Northers ' ' so prevalent on the Gulf and it was one of the most incon- venient and dangerous harbours on that coast. It was for this reason that Cortez destroyed the vessels which had brought his forces over from Cuba. An excellent harbour has been constructed at great cost and ocean-going ves- sels can now anchor alongside of the main pier and unload. A large new union station will at once be erected by the four railways entering this city on a site adjoining the pier, which will further increase the facilities of this port. The fortress of San Juan de Ulua, now a prison, and which is reached by a short sail through the shark-infested harbour, is an in- teresting structure and has seen many vicissi- tudes. Used as a fort for several centuries by the Spaniards, it has successively been occu- pied by the French, Americans, and again by the French and their allies in the war of the intervention. The buildings in Vera Cruz are nearly all low, one-storied structures of adobe, and the walls are tinted in red, yellow, blue and green, thus furnishing to the eye a pleas- ing variety and, with the bay, reminding one of Cadiz in old Spain. There is an attractive plaza and an imposing avenue of the cocoanut The Tropics 99 palm. Vera Cruz is the gateway to the capital and many millions of imports and exports pass through here each year, as much as at all the other ports of Mexico combined, leaving out Progresso, on the Yucatan coast, through which the henequen traffic is carried. Tampico is the second Gulf port in impor- tance and on the completion of a direct route to the capital will be a close rival to Vera Cruz. Coatzacoalcos is the Gulf port of the Tehuan- tepec railway and will become an important port. The Pacific coast affords better natural harbours. Acapulco is one of the finest natural land-locked harbours in the world. Though now of secondary importance because of the absence of railroad connections, at one time this picturesque harbour sheltered the old Spanish galleons engaged in the East India trade. Their freight was unloaded there and transported overland on the backs of burros and mules to Vera Cruz and re-shipped to Spain. Manzanillo is an important seaport on that coast and will soon be connected by rail with the capital, when its importance will be greatly increased. Other important ports on that coast are Mazatlan, Guayamas, San Bias and Salina Cruz, the Pacific port of the Te- 100 Mexico and Her People To-day huantepec route, where the great harbour is nearly completed. The tierra caliente comprises a fringe of low plains which extend inland from the coast a distance varying from a few miles in width to a hundred or more. From thence it rises by a succession of terraces until the great inland plateaus are reached. The higher the altitude the lower the temperature, and it is estimated that there is a change of 1.8 degree Fahrenheit for each sixty feet of elevation in this region. This zone is characterized by the grandeur and variety of vegetable life, and it is an almost uninterrupted forest except where it has been cleared, A ride through the tropics is a reve- lation of what nature can do when aided by a never-ending succession of warm sunshine and abundant rain upon rich soil. Trees of great height and size are interspersed among plants which are generally of a tree-like na- ture, and are conspicuous for the development of their trunks and ramifications. The innu- merable species of reeds and creeping plants that entwine themselves in a thousand differ- ent ways among the trees and plants make a passage almost impossible. It is for this rea- son that the natives always go around armed with the machete, a long blade very much like The Tropics 101 a corn-cutter, for it enables them to cut their way through the dense undergrowth, and is a protection, should any danger be encountered. The palms which are ever associated with the tropics are seen in great profusion and in countless varieties. Millions of ferns and broad-leaved plants which would be welcomed in the gardens and groves of northern homes are wasting their graceful beauty in these jungles and wildernesses. Trees are covered with beautiful orchids and vines coil about the trunks and limbs like great snakes, and then drop down to the earth and take root again in the damp soil. To those who know them the tropics are not so terrible, treacherous though they may seem. Some enter this zone with a feeling of creepi- ness as though thej^ were entering a darkened sick-room sheltering some malignant disease. They hesitate to breathe for fear that the very air is poisonous and they may take in the germs of some malady with an unpronounce- able name. They shrink from nature as though she had ceased to be the kind mother to which they were accustomed in the colder climates. It is true that there is something horribly creepy and uncanny about this inevi- table tropical growth, which is so frail and 102 Mexico and Her People To-day fragile outwardly but seems possessed of an unconquerable vitality. And yet in many of the so-called unhealthy places, there is scarcely more danger to health than elsewhere, if one but observes the same rules of right living. Continuous hard labour, such as the northern farmer is accustomed to devote to his little farm, is not possible. Exposure to the intense heat of the sun at midday and the heavy rains will bring on fevers and malaria just as surely as it produces the luxuriant vegetation. For this reason the tropics will probably never be suited for colonization by the small farmer who is fascinated with the possibilities offered by land capable of producing two or three crops in a single year. In general, Mexico is poorly supplied with rivers. However, along the Atlantic coast they are very numerous and large, although not navigable for any great distance, or for vessels large enough to be of much aid to commerce. The size of the rivers is due to the great amount of r^jjafall, which varies from seventy to one hundred and eighty inches annually. "When this is compared to an annual rainfall of twenty to forty inches in the northern states of the United States, the conditions in the trop- ics are better understood. This excessive rain- The Tropics 103 fall washes down earth from the higher ground and this, together with the layers of vegetable mold, have formed soil from eight to fourteen feet in depth thus making it practically inex- haustible. The temperature varies from 70° to 100° Fahrenheit. The Pacific coast has a higher temperature and less rainfall than the Gulf coast. However, there is a stretch of land extending north of Acapulco along the coast and from eight to thirty miles wide that is unrivalled for tropical beauty and productive- ness. There are many rivers and streams that traverse this land on the way from the great mountains to the Pacific. There is a charm about the life in the hot- lands that is missing in other parts of Mexico. Of all the inhabitants of that country, the life of the people in the hot country is the most interesting. This is probably due to the fact that these people have aways had more free- dom than the Indians on the plateaus who were practically slaves for a couple of centuries. The great estates there required sure help and the natives were reduced to serfs. In the mines they were worked with soldiers set over them as guards. In the hotlands it was easier to make a living, for a bountiful nature supplied nearly all their wants. And yet many employ- 104 Mexico and Her People To-day ers of labour say that the peon from the hot country makes the most satisfactory workman. These Indians seem like a superior race. For one thing they are scrupulously clean which, in itself, is a pleasing contrast to the daily sights in Northern Mexico. "Water is abundant everywhere ; the extreme heat renders bathing a great comfort and their clothes are kept im- maculate. They are fond of social life and almost every night groups can be seen gath- ered together in some kind of entertainment. Their homes are different from those in the colder lands. The houses of the middle and lower classes are built of bamboo or other light material found in the tropical jungles, and thatched with palm leaves. The upright bam- boo poles are often set an inch or more apart thus giving a free circulation of air. An In- dian village generally consists of one long, winding, irregular street lined on each side by these picturesque huts, and bearing a strong resemblance to a village in the interior of Africa. Down these streets swarm in equal profusion half-naked babies and children long past the childhood stage dressed in the same simple way, and hungry looking dogs. The hot country is sparsely populated in compari- son with the plateaus and there are no large The Tropics 105 I cities, although archeologists tell us that the earliest civilization seems to have been located there. It could support a population many, many times larger with ease. The most productive parts of the world are found in the tierra caliente which instead of being given up to impenetrable jungles, the homes of reptiles and breeding place of poi- sonous insects, should be made to produce those luxuries and necessaries which contrib- ute to make civilized life tolerable. All over the world the fruits and other articles of the tropics are coming into greater demand each year. In the year 1906 the United States im- ported fruits and other food products of trop- ical countries, not including coffee, to the value of more than $150,000,000, or nearly two dol- lars for each man, woman and child in the country. Of the purely tropical products, sugar was by far the largest item on the list. Bananas to the amount of $11,500,000 were brought in, and were second on the list with cacao a close rival for this place. As yet Mexico supplies but a small portion of these articles to the United States. Yet the possibilities of agriculture here are equal to those of any similar lands, and this, together with superior transportation facilities and a 106 Mexico and Her People To-day- stable government, ought to greatly increase the trade. In addition to the above items, this soil is well adapted to the following fruits and useful products, all of which are native to the soil: oranges, lemons, limes, pineapples, grape- fruit, vanilla bean, indigo, rubber, coffee, to- bacco and many drug-producing plants. It is difficult for the small farmer to succeed, as he cannot do all his own labour in that climate and cannot get satisfactory help just when it is needed. He could not afford to hire a force of labourers by the year. Successful farming in the tropics can only be done on a large scale with a regular force of labourers maintained on the plantation. The title to the soil can be purchased cheaply but the first cost of the land is probably not more than one-third of the ulti- mate cost by the time it is cleared, planted, and the necessary improvements made. Further- more many tropical plants such as coffee, rub- ber and cacao require several years of care before there is a profitable yield. Coffee and banana culture go hand in hand, for the broad leaves of the banana provide the shade so necessary to the young coffee trees. The banana also furnishes a little revenue dur- ing the four or five years before the coffee trees have fully matured. The coffee region The Tropics 107 is very extensive, for it will grow at a height of from one to five thousand feet, and flour- ishes best at an altitude of two to three thou- sand feet. It requires plenty of warmth and moisture. The coffee, which is a tree and not a bush, is set out in rows several feet apart, and will grow twenty feet tall if permitted, but is not allowed to grow half that height. The tree is flowering and developing fruit all the time but the principal harvest is in the late fall. It is not allowed to ripen on the tree, for when the green berries have turned a bright red, they are gathered, dried in the sun, hulled and then marketed. The states of Vera Cruz and Chiapas produce the choicest coffee, but it is cultivated all over the republic where it is possible. Coffee was introduced into this coun- try from Arabia by Spanish priests and was found to be adapted to the soil. The best grades are sent to Europe, for it is a common saying throughout Mexico and Central Amer- ica that only the poor grades of coffee are sent to the United States. This is rather a slur on the tastes of the American people, but such is our reputation down there. '^ Looking at it from my point of view — the lazy man's outlook — I can see nothing so inviting as coffee culture, unless it be a fat 108 Mexico and Her People To-day * living ' in an English country diurch," says a writer. For myself, the one thing that ap- pealed to me above all others was the culti- vation of the banana. The returns are quick, the income regular and the profits large. I travelled through the banana region of Hon- duras, where for thirty miles the railroad passed by one plantation after another of the broad-leaved banana plants growing as high as fifteen feet. Great fortunes have been made by the banana-growers of that country and Costa Rica. This fruit flourishes best in the lowlands. The preparation of the ground is very simple, for the young banana plants are set out among the piles of underbrush left after clearing and which soon decay in that climate. After nine months or a year the plants begin to bear, and each stalk will produce one bunch of bananas. The stalk is then cut down and a new one, or several, will spring up from the roots and will bear in the same length of time. Thus a banana plantation that is carefully looked after will produce a marketable crop each week in the year, so that there is a con- stant revenue coming in to the owner. The cultivation of this delicious fruit, for which there is an ever-increasing market, brings the quickest return of any tropical product. The Tropics 109 Sugar cane can be raised profitably as the stalks grow high with many joints and have a greater percentage of saccharine than in most countries where it is cultivated. Further- more it does not require replanting so fre- quently. Cacao is another truly tropical prod- uct. It is from the cacao bean that chocolate is made. The trees are usually transplanted and bear in about four years and the beans are gathered three or four times a year. They are then removed from the pods and dried in the sun. The trees will bear for many years. Orange culture along modern scientific lines, such as are used in California and Florida, would be profitable, for the crop matures ear- lier and could be marketed long before the fruit has ripened in those states. The Mexi- cans are great rice eaters and there is a good field for its culture. The cocoanut palm offers good returns as there is a good market for its fruit. Kubber grows wild and many planta- tions have been set out in rubber trees. In the past year Mexico has shipped more than two million pounds of crude rubber, and the pro- duction is increasing. Vast tracts of mahog- any are found down toward Guatemala in the states of Campeche and Tabasco. These great trees are cut down, hewn square and then 110 Mexico and Her People To-day hauled by mules to a waterway where they are formed into rafts and jfloated down to the ports. There is much waste in the present crude way of cutting and marketing this val- uable wood. Logwood and other dyewoods are found in the same forests. The world's supply of chicle also comes from the same source. What the Mexican tropics need is men of energy backed by capital sufficient to utilize large tracts of this rich soil. It is true that many plantations are now being cultivated and it is equally true that many have been aban- doned as failures after unsuccessful attempts at cultivation. The fault has not been poor soil but poor management. Promotion and success are not synonymous terms, and much of the promotion has been done by unscrupu- lous persons whose only purpose was to dis- pose of stock to the gullible. Richer soil can- not be found anywhere, but it must be culti- vated with intelligence and good judgment the same as in any other part of the world, or fail- ure will result. CHAPTER VI A GLIMPSE OF THE OEIENTAL IN THE OCCIDENT Some two hundred miles soutli of the City of Mexico lies Oaxaca (pronounced Wa- ha-ka). The Valley of Oaxaca was looked upon by the Spanish conquerors as El Dorado, the traditional land of gold. The Aztecs told them that the gold of Montezuma came from the sands of the rivers in this and the connect- ing valleys, and that immeasurable treasure was to be found there. Believing these tales, Cortez secured large grants of land from the crown, and, with the consent and approval of his sovereign, assumed to himself the title of Marquis of the Valley of Oaxaca. The cupidity of the Spaniards led them to employ every subterfuge to induce the natives to reveal the source of their plentiful supply of gold. The Indians, after considerable urg- ing, — so we are told, — offered to conduct one man to this place, if he would submit to be blindfolded for the trip. This was agreed to HI 112 Mexico and Her People To-day and the party set out on their journey. Think- ing that he would mark the way, the Spaniard dropped a grain of corn every few steps. After they had travelled a long distance, the Spaniard had the bandage removed from his eyes and he was allowed to look around, when he beheld such wealth as mortal vision never before had seen. His eyes glittered with the greed of his covetous nature, but his counte- nance soon changed when a dusky warrior stepped up and handed him a vessel which contained every grain of corn that he had dropped by the way. For this reason he was never able to retrace his steps to this wonder- ful region, and the wily Spaniards were again outwitted by the simple natives. Oaxaca is reached by the Southern Railway which starts at Puebla. This road penetrates one of the richest sections of the republic, with abundance of timber and minerals, and unlimited beds of onyx and marble. Little of this wealth is seen from the railroad, as this line follows the narrow valleys, through one canon into another, furnishing scenery as grandly picturesque as the great passes of Colorado. The mountains in places are lifted up thousands of feet with crags and peaks which the storms have cut into fantastic shapes A Glimpse of the Oriental 113 and whose walls drop almost perpendicularly to the water's edge. Then again the canon widens, and the panorama extends across the valley where gigantic rocks, stained in all col- ours by the oozings of the metals of the earth, form far-away pictures not unlike the battle- ments of an ancient fortress. The sun tinges each a different hue, with deeper tones in the near ones which fade as they approach the horizon, until all seem to blend into the intense blue of the sky. As the train leaves the City of the Angels, just at daybreak, a wonderful panorama is opened up to view. Look in any direction, and the tiled domes of the churches rise above the plain, for each village and hacienda has its own. The forts erected on the surrounding hills which are emblematic of the force that subjugated this valley, are seen, and near them the pyramid of Cholula erected by those who were overcome. Over all tower those mighty monuments of nature, the white-capped peaks of Popocatapetl, Ixtaccihuatl, Orizaba and old Malintzi, with the morning sun reflected on their snowy heads. The road ascends and de- scends, and then ascends again before it takes a dip down into the tierra caliente. A number of native villages are passed but only one town 114 Mexico and Her People To-day of any size, Tehuacan, noted for its mineral springs. It is a pretty little city, and in the centre of a rich agricultural district. The road finally enters a wide, open country with rich valleys which extend to the hills beyond. At last, after a twelve hours' journey, our train rolls into this occidental Eden. More than three centuries ago a Spanish writer described Oaxaca as '' not very big, yet a fair and beautiful city to behold, which stand- eth three-score leagues from Mexico in a pleas- ant valley." It is located at the junction of three valleys and on the bank of a broad river, which meanders through a billowy sea of corn- fields toward the Pacific. Whichever way the eye may turn the view is bounded by hills cov- ered with forests. Viewed from one of these hills the city looks like a broad, flat-covered plain of stone buildings above which are seen many domes, and the whole scene has a truly oriental touch. The people that the Spanish found in posses- sion of these valleys were an industrious race. They had tilled the soil centuries before the Spaniards, in their lust for gold, despoiled these beautiful valleys. There is not a hollow, or knoll, where it is possible to scrape a little soil with a hoe, that has not at some time been A Glimpse of the Oriental 115 cultivated. These early races had even con- structed irrigation works which kept green their fields during the dry season. The rich basins filled with alluvium are now owned by the rich hacendados, or landowners, whose white buildings dot the landscape here and there and, with their trees, orchards and cul- tivated fields, lend life and colour to an other- wise dull prospect. The poor Indians are forced to work for these landlords who claim title to the land formerly owned by their an- cestors, or retire to the hills where, well up toward the crests, they cultivate their little fields of corn and beans. There is one tribe of Indians that dwell in the mountains of Oaxaca who have never acknowledged either Spanish or Mexican sovereignty, and maintain their own tribal form of government. They can be seen at Oaxaca on market days. We find Oaxaca to be a city of about thirty- three thousand people of whom three-fourths or more are Indians. It is laid out with nar- row streets, down the centre of which runs a stream of water, from which rise at times odours not the most agreeable. The houses are low and one-storied, with grated windows after the style of architecture introduced by the Spaniards, and by them adopted from the 116 Mexico and Her People To-day- Moors, who copied it from tlie Persians. The water supply is abundant, being brought in from the hills by an aqueduct. Fountains are located at numerous places, and a constant suc- cession of Rebeccas with heads enveloped in their shawls, and carrying great earthen water- jars pass to and fro from them. Oaxaca contains many fine churches of which one, Santo Domingo, has been both monastery and fortress, and has just been restored at a cost of $13,000,000 (silver) so it is claimed, making it the most costly church in Mexico, if not in North America. The gold on the walls was so heavy in former times, that the soldiers quartered here during revolutionary uprisings employed themselves in removing it. This city has been the scene of troublous times, and has been captured and re-captured by the combating forces. It has given to the country two great presidents, Juarez and Diaz, of whom it may well be proud. Of these two men, great in the annals of Mexico, the former was a full-blooded Indian, and the latter has a fair percentage of the same blood in his veins. A monument to Juarez has been erected, and some day — may it be far distant — when nature has claimed her own, this city will raise a memorial to her still greater son. THE AQUEDUCT, OAXACA A FOUNTAIN IN OAXACA A Glimpse of the Oriental 117 Oaxaea lias a pleasant plaza, called tlie Plaza de Armas, adorned with various semi-tropical trees and shrubs, in the centre of which is the ever-present band-stand. The Cathedral and municipal palace face this square. My visit here was during a fiesta and this plaza was the favourite resort of the Indians as well as my- self. The Indians living in the hills took undis- turbed possession at night, and groups of tired Indios wrapped themselves in their sarapes, or shawls, and stretched their tired limbs out on the cold stones; or propped themselves against the walls of a building to rest. A num- ber of catch-penny devices were running dur- ing the evening and the favourite seemed to be the phonograph. The Indian would pay his centavo, put the transmitter in his ears and listen without a sign of expression on his stolid face. Nevertheless, he enjoyed it, because he would repeat the operation until his stock of coppers was considerably diminished. Saturday is market day in this city, and a visit to this popular place is worth a trip to Mexico. The atmosphere of the market is truly oriental, for these people have a genius for trading as the innumerable little stands where crude pottery, rough-made baskets, homemade dulces, etc., are sold, fully proves. 118 Mexico and Her People To-day The entrance takes one past the dealers in fried meats, where bits of pork and shreds of beef are dished out sizzling hot to the peons under the big sombreros by women cooks who crouch over earthenware dishes placed on small braziers containing a charcoal fire, and a three course meal can be obtained for a few cents. There is always a crowd around this department, for these people are ever ready to eat, and their capacity is only limited by their purse. Next is encountered the fruit and vegetable stands. The finest fruits and vegetables, and especially the latter, that I saw in Mexico, were right here in this market and this was in the month of December. Generally the vegetables in Mexico are not large, but here were fine potatoes, great red tomatoes, gigantic radishes and elephantine cabbages. Oranges, bananas, limes, plantains and pineapples were plentiful, as well as the less-known fruits such as zapotes (a kind of melon), aguacates (a pale green fruit and vegetable combined), granaditas, mangoes, granadas and pomegranates. The cocoanut of the hotlands is mingled with the dunas, the fruit of the prickly pear, of the higher lands. With these a great many drinks called frescas, or sherbets, are flavoured, the THE POTTERY- MARKET, OAXACA A Glimpse of the Oriental 119 merits of which are announced by the dark- eyed, be-shawled vendors. The women mer- chants, many of them smoking cigarettes, sit around on the floor so thick in places that it is almost impossible to work your way through the mixed assortment of peppers and babies; corn, lean babies and peas; charcoal, beans and fat babies; naked babies, knives and murderous-looking machetes; hats, laughing babies, shawls and other useful articles; tur- keys, crjang babies, chickens, dirty babies, ducks, squawking parrots in cages, pigs and other live stock, including babies of all kinds and descriptions. The pottery market presided over by the solemn-faced, oriental merchants is a never- ending place of interest, and these artistic vessels are carried over the mountains on the backs of the Indians. Crude baskets and mats made of the palm fibre are found in abundance as well as brooms which bear no union label. No one could afford to miss the flower de- partment where flowers are so cheap that it seems almost a sin not to buy them. Here are velvety sweet peas, purple pansies, tangled heaps of crimson and white roses, azure forget- me-nots, pyramids of heliotrope and scarlet geraniums. For a few cents one can buy al- 120 Mexico and Her People To-day most a bushel of these, or, if preferred, can substitute marguerites, carnations, poppies, or violets. An American will probably have to pay twice as much as a native, even after the shrewdest bargaining. Outside the market enclosure caravans of over-loaded donkeys jostle each other as a great solid-wheeled cart yoked to a couple of meek-eyed oxen creaks by, or a tram car drawn by galloping mules thunders noisily along to an accompaniment of loud cracks of the whip, and a constant repetition of " mulas " and " arres " the '' rrs " being brought out with a long trill. The Indian will travel for days on his way to market at Oaxaca. On the day before market I drove out the south road for a num- ber of miles, and the entire distance was lit- erally black, — or perhaps it would be better to say brown, — with the natives coming to town bearing the '^ brown man's burden,'' and travelling along in the middle of the road at a rapid pace. These Indians were coming from the '' hot country " farther south and were bringing oranges, bananas, cocoanuts and other kinds of tropical fruits, besides chickens, eggs and other poultry. Most of them were on foot, though the more fortunate had don- A Glimpse of the Oriental 121 kej's to carry the load; but they themselves walked and drove the animal. The women bore large baskets on their heads, which they bal- anced gracefull}^, although sometimes the loads are exceedinglj^ heavy. They will carry one hundred pounds or more in this manner. Fre- quently a baby is swung across the back as an additional burden. The little mites are good natured in this uncomfortable position, and do not make half as much trouble as American babies in their rubber-tired, easy-springed per- ambulators. A small pot, a basket of tortillas, a few fag- ots and plenty of coffee complete the outfit of the man. Perhaps the value of his load is not over a dollar or two in gold, but his entertain- ment along the way costs little, for he sleeps out of doors, carries his food, makes his own coffee and needs to buy nothing except perhaps a little fruit and aguardiente (brandy). The entire family sometimes accompany him, for the wife is afraid to have her man go away alone for fear he may desert her. On the opposite side of the city from the road just described is another main highway. I stood here for several hours by the river bank on the afternoon of a market-day, when the people were leaving for home. The sight 122 Mexico and Her People To-day never grew tiresorae or monotonous, as there was a constant succession of pictures, which a moving-picture machine alone could adequately portray. Although there is a bridge across the stream, no one used it, for by making a short cut across the river bed a hundred yards or more was saved. The pedestrian would re- move his sandals to wade through the shallow water, and then replace them on reaching the opposite bank. The Indians going this way had more burros, and, as their load was dis- posed of, the family rode. Frequently a poor, diminutive burro carried as many persons as could sit on his back, in addition to the large baskets. Many of the great carts drawn by one or two yoke of oxen passed this way. The cattle are all yoked by the horns, which seems a cruel way, for their heads are brought down almost to the ground, and it looks as though every jar must cause them suffering. So this unique panorama continued all the afternoon. I could not think of anything but Palestine, as I gazed at this unceasing proces- sion of donkeys, Egyptian carts, women with their shawls folded and worn on their heads in Eastern fashion; and in the background the white walls, red tiled roofs and domes of the churches of Oaxaca. For a moment I won- A Glimpse of the Oriental 123 dered if I were not mistaken, and had suddenly strayed into some corner of the Orient, and found myself involuntarily looking for the mosque, and listening for the cry of the muez- zin calling the faithful to prayer. A trip around about the valley near Oaxaca only served to strengthen the oriental cast of the picture. The types of buildings, and the signs of water and fertility in the midst of widespread aridity (for this was the dry sea- son) are eastern. I saw many flocks of goats herded by the solitary shepherd in the truly old-fashioned way. Then, a slow-moving team of oxen followed by a peon guiding a one- handled, wooden plough deepens the picture. How powerful must have been the Moorish influence in Spain, for this is the plough of 'Egypt and Chaldea which was carried along the coast of Barbary into Spain, and left there as a heritage to the Spaniards who introduced it into the new world. Yes, Oaxaca is an El Dorado, a land of treas- ure to the searcher after the picturesque. The real wealth lies in its delightful climate. The temperature is mild and does not vary more than twenty or thirty degrees during the year. The altitude is a little less than five thousand feet and the air is fresh and bracing. There is 124 Mexico and Her People To-day also an abundance of good, pure water. Some day this city will be known as a health resort for people from cold climates. They will find relief from the strenuous life in quiet, restful, oriental Oaxaca. There is no more picturesque hacienda in all Mexico than that of Mitla a few miles away. Because of the bleak and rough nature of the country it has retained its early characteris- tics. The little store is a revelation of the simple and primitive life of these people. Evening is sure to find Don Felix, or his black- eyed son, behind the counter waiting on the groups of Indians who are constantly coming in to buy a couple of cents worth of mescal, or tequila, or cigarettes. One Indian woman came in to purchase a centavo (one-half cent) of vinegar, another of lard, and others an equal amount of honey, soap, sugar or matches. They would invariably buy only one article at a time, then pay for it and watch the copper disappear down a slot in the counter. Outside the door was an old Indian who had brought a load of wood down from the mountain, and the good housewives were noisily bargaining with him for a centavo 's worth of wood, and trying to get an extra stick or two for that gum. A Glimpse of the Oriental 125 Bargaining is a part of the education of these people. A young Indian came in hatless and wanted a sombrero (hat). He was shown one with thirty cents worth of brim by the merchant. The Indian offered twenty-eight cents which was accepted and he went away happy over his bargain. An old Indian, — and an old Indian is but a child in worldly wisdom, — brought a large cassava root, which, after considerable haggling, the merchant purchased for five cents. He bought a package of sixteen cigarettes for three cents and told the young hacendado that he had another " mas grande " (larger), which he would sell for seven cents. He went away but returned in a few minutes with the other root, and looked around at the crowd with a grin. The merchant took it but told him it was " mas chico " (smaller), and he could only allow four cents. The Indian came down to six and the deal was closed at five cents, the same price as the first one was sold for. He bought a glass of mescal for two cents aind vanished in the night air, with a smile of complete satisfaction on his face. It is a simple life that these people lead, and the same scenes may be witnessed any day in the year at this little tienda at the Hacienda of Mitla. 126 Mexico and Her People To-day " When twilight falls, more near and clear, The tender southern skies appear." Twilight is very brief in this land. Scarcely has the sun dropped out of sight, when the moon appears on the opposite horizon, almost a counterpart of the former in its descending glory. Then the stars appear by hundreds, and myriads, and the night in all its magnifi- cence is upon you, where, but a few minutes before, was the brightness of day. And the overhanging canopy of the heavens seems so much brighter, and clearer, and nearer than in our more northerly land. As the hour grew late, I wandered forth from the little store and walked through the narrow, winding streets of the village. It was one of those brilliant tropical nights when the southern skies seemed ablaze with the light of innumerable stars, and the Queen of the Night was in her glory. It was such a night as would have appealed to the astronomers of old. The streets were silent except for the howling of some dogs near by. The porch of the hacienda was crowded with reclining figures wrapped in their sarapes. A belated traveller came up and with a sigh of relief deposited his load, and joined the sleeping crowd. A match il- lumed a dark face for a moment as he lit a A Glimpse of the Oriental 127 cigarette. Finally, all voices ceased and quiet reigned supreme. It was a silence as deep and mysterious as that of the ruined city that lay but a few rods away. CHAPTER VII THE ISTHMUS OF TEHUAITTEPEC A TEip from Vera Cruz to the Isthmus of Tehuantepec takes the traveller into the very centre of the tropics in Mexico. It is a most interesting ride. The entire journey is within the tier r a caliente region and throughout the whole distance of two hundred and fifty miles there are only slight undulations that could hardly be truthfully called hills. It is not all jungle for there are plains that are sometimes several miles in width which furnish rich pas- ture for great herds of cattle. Here again is seen the picturesque Mexican cowboy riding his pony and carrying the ever-present lasso. The heavy saddles in this hot climate and espe- cially the twisted bits which are universally used upon the horses in Mexico seem like a cruel imposition upon their faithful steeds. With this combination of rings and bars a rider could almost break the jaw of a horse. 128 The Isthmus of Tehuantepec 129 It is absolutely impossible for an animal to drink with this bit in his mouth. This leads me to remark that the finer sen- sibilities with regard to the treatment of do- mesticated animals and fowls are generally absent among Mexicans. The poor burros which are obliged to travel day after day with great sores on their backs that are continually chafed by the loads they are carrying, and sad- dle mules with similar sores, excite no com- passion from the average Mexican. No doubt many of these animals are obliged to work for months and possibly years, when every step under a load or the weight of a man must cause them suffering. They are seldom shod, and many an animal is obliged to travel over the rough trails until his hoofs are worn down to the sensitive part. Cruel spurs are jabbed into his sides until they are raw. I have al- ready spoken of the bull-fight and cock-fight- ing. From a book " On the Mexican High- lands ' ' I quote another form of cruelty : — '' The stocky, swarthy Indian woman calmly broke the thigh bone of each leg and the chief bone of each wing, so that escape might be impossible, and proceeded right then and there to pick the chicken alive. She was evidently unconscious of any thought of cruelty. The 130 Mexico and Her People To-day- legs and wings were broken in order that the bird might not run or fly away. The sentiment of pity and tenderness for dumb things had not yet dawned upon her mind, and the fowl destined for the pot received no consideration at her hands." There are many villages along this route but no cities. Several broad rivers and innu- merable small streams are crossed. The en- gines burn wood, and it is necessary to stop on several occasions and load up the tender with fuel. At Tierra Blanca are located the shops and division headquarters of the road. As the Isthmus is approached the tropical swamps become more frequent and the train passes through miles of territory where " still stands the forest primeval," a jungle of trees and shrubs intermingled with countless varie- ties of palms ; impenetrable forests with creep- ers and parasites hanging from the boughs of trees, and replanting themselves in the moist earth. Within these jungles the '' tigre " roams and beneath the heavy undergrowth, horrid, venomous snakes crawl. Overhead fly noisy parrots and paroquets in couples and flocks with all of the colours of the rainbow reflected from their gaudy feathers. Then in The Isthmus of Tehuantepec 131 the waters of these streams live hundreds of repulsive alligators. At certain seasons of the year the Indians live almost entirely upon the wild products of the forest. Nature furnishes fruits, and with the blow-gun or other weapon enough game can be killed to fill the larder. With a natural laziness and in an enervating climate the na- tives prefer existence of this kind to the more artificial one made necessary by labour. The Vera Cruz and Pacific Railway connects with the Tehuantepec railway at Santa Lucre- cia, a small village with a poor hotel. Here it was my lot to be obliged to spend Christmas Eve and the greater part of Christmas day. My companions were an Englishman and a Scotchman. The Englishman rummaged around in the little store and found a canned plum pudding, which rather cheered him and his compatriot and I was invited to share in their good fortune. However the heavens seemed to open up and let the water pour down in torrents and the mud was apparently bot- tomless so that our explorations were confined to the hotel porch. In spite of the plum pud- ding my spirits were rather low and I was reminded of Touchstone wandering in the Forest of Arden, when he says : — 132 Mexico and Her People To-day « When I was at home I was in a better place, But travellers must be content." It was a real pleasure to step into a fine American coach drawn by an American engine and run by an American crew bound for the chief town of the Isthmus and the one that gave it its name. Tehuantepec is a place where some twenty thousand souls are trying to solve the problem of existence under favourable skies. In this city of a hot midday sun and little rain the strenuous life has few disciples. It is situated on the Pacific slope of the Cordillera on both banks of a broad river and only a few miles from the ocean. It is composed of low, one- storied buildings, many of which show cracks that are the result of the earthquake shocks which sometimes visit here. The streets are narrow and the centre of the town is the mar- ket plaza. Until the opening of the railroad, which runs through the centre of the town, strangers were almost unknown and the quaint customs, costumes and habits still remain. The market and the river furnish the only life. The latter is always made lively and interest- ing to the stranger because of the crowds of bathers in the stream and washerwomen on the banks. It is an animated scene and has an air The Isthmus of Tehuantepec 133 of uaturaluess devoid of any false ideas of modesty. These Indians belong to the Zapotec tribe and they are among the cleanest people in the world, as a race, as the long lines of bathers of both sexes from early dawn until nightfall attest. Woman's rights are recognized and undisputed among these people. The women run the place and do ninety per cent, of the business. The wife must vouch for the hus- band before he can obtain credit. In the mar- ket place where most of the bartering is done she reigns supreme. The Isthmus of Tehuantepec is the narrow- est neck of land in Mexico between the two great oceans and, with the exception of the Isthmus of Panama, is the narrowest point on the continent. The soil is extremely rich and the natural products and resources of the Isth- mus are numerous and varied. All products indigenous to the tropics grow here. Different sections, according to elevation, are especially adapted to the cultivation of corn, cacao, to- bacco, rice and sugar cane. Medicinal plants, spices, all tropical fruits, vanilla, indigo and cotton also will grow profitably in this climate. Cochineal dye has for a long time come from the Tehuantepec region, but this industry has 134 Mexico and Her People To-day- 's been displaced by the more recent chemical dyes. The forests abound in game and the rivers and lagoons in fish. The forests yield useful timbers, such as mahogany, also dyewoods and trees producing gums and balsams. Oil in paying quantities has been discovered in sev- eral places and the Tehuantepec National Railway, which crosses the isthmus, is one of the few roads in the world that uses oil for fuel. There are also profitable salt deposits. A great deal of American and European cap- ital has been sunk in unsuccessful plantations along this route. This has been due to illogical and dishonest promotion. The fertile soil will produce immense crops of the things adapted for cultivation. With this fact in view it seems strange to see one abandoned plantation after another as you journey over the two hundred miles separating Coatzacoalcos and Salina Cruz, the two termini of the Isthmus of Te- huantepec trans-continental and inter-oceanic railroad route. In the matter of climate the Mexicans claim a great superiority for Te- huantepec over Panama, because of the strong winds that blow constantly from ocean to ocean. For centuries this isthmus has attracted a The Isthmus of Tehuantepec 135 great deal of attention from explorers and engineers in the effort to discover or provide the most convenient and economical route be- tween the Atlantic and Pacific oceans. Cortez first realized the necessity of such a route and explored this whole section in the hope of find- ing a natural strait. It is even claimed that he conceived the idea of a canal across this narrow strip of land. Failing in these proj- ects he planned a carriage road from coast to coast, which was finally constructed by the Spaniards. Many of the miners who flocked to California during the gold excitement went by this highway. Later civil engineers pro- posed and advocated a canal by this route even before the Panama route was seriously con- sidered. The distance from ocean to ocean is only one hundred and twenty-five miles in a bee line. The land is comparatively level and the rise on the Atlantic side is very gradual culminating in the Chivela Pass at a height of seven hundred and thirty feet. From here to the Pacific the descent is more abrupt. A ship railway was at one time seriously consid- ered and liberal concessions were granted by the Mexican government to the American engi- neer James B. Eads and his associates. This project although considered feasible by engi- 136 Mexico and Her People To-day neers has never been able to enlist capital for its construction. The Panama Canal under French control was a colossal failure. A project which for a time seemed to promise a solution of the prob- lem for a quick and economical route between the East and West ended in lamentable dis- grace and for a long time remained in what one of our former presidents would have called, a condition of " innocuous desuetude." l^^len the United States undertook this great enter- prise, the completion of this desirable water- way was placed at ten years or even less. Now at the end of four years we are credibly in- formed that little has been done except the completion of plans, surveys, purchase of ma- chinery and necessary sanitation. All of these preliminaries were essential and will greatly facilitate the real work when once started. All loyal Americans believe in the ultimate successful completion of this great undertak- ing. Yet, instead of ten years, we can see that fifteen years, or even twenty years would be a more accurate statement of the time neces- sary to complete the severing of the two con- tinents. In the meantime, what? While other countries have been planning, the Mexican government with the characteris- The Isthmus of Tehuantepec 137 tic foresight sliown by President Diaz has been quietly preparing to meet the problem of a short and economical route between the two oceans. This has been done without the blow- ing of horns and few people were aware until recently of what was being done and what had really been accomplished. The government of Mexico decided upon the plan of constructing a railway across the Isthmus from Coatzacoal- cos, on the Gulf of Mexico, to Salina Cruz, on the Pacific Ocean, a distance of one hundred and ninety-four miles. Most railroads in trop- ical lands are narrow gauge but this line is constructed of standard width and was com- pleted in 1895. When first opened to traffic the road was in a very imperfect condition. In 1899 a contract was entered into between the government and the English house of Pearson and Sons whereby the two parties became joint owners of the road for a period of fifty years and the net earnings should be shared on an equitable basis. The construction was of a difficult character because the route passed through some can- ons, rocky cuts and a great deal of swampy soil. The work has been well done and it is one of the best roads in Mexico to-day, with good equipment and traffic managed in an up- 138 Mexico and Her People To-day to-date and businesslike manner. Already- large orders for equipment have been placed and plans for double-tracking the entire road have been drawn. The headquarters and gen- eral offices are at Eincon Antonio, which is at the highest point and has the appearance of a typical new English town with its red brick terraces. This town receives the full benefit of the winds constantly blowing across the isthmus and enjoys a pleasant and salubrious climate. The shops and roundhouse for the railroad have been built at this place also and the employees are all comfortably housed. Some of the officers have built very commo- dious homes of their own, with every possible convenience. This town is in marked contrast with the old Mexican towns and villages along the route. The general officers of the road and head men in the port works at both termini are all English and Americans. Formerly they were English, but in recent years the Americans have been replacing the English, as they have been found more satisfactory and better adapted for the work. The government soon learned that the rail- way without good harbours was a poor prop- osition. The plans of the government were The Isthmus of Tehuantepec 139 tlieu made to iuclude iimiieuse port works and safe, commodious harbours at Coatzacoalcos aud Salina Cruz. At the former place the river forms a natural harbour of an average depth of fifty feet at low water. The only problem here was to remove a sand bar and construct piers. The work of removing the bar has been completed and several large steel wharves and warehouses have already been constructed and others are in course of con- struction. The total frontage of the wharves ^when completed will be over three thousand feet. It is intended to have a minimum depth of thirty-three feet alongside of the wharves which will be equipped with every modern con- trivance for unloading cargo quickly and eco- nomically from ships, and transferring to the railroad and vice versa. The work at Salina Cruz presented far greater problems. It has demanded the max- imum of engineering skill and an immense sum of money. Here nature had aided in no way and everything had to be done by human effort. On account of severe wind storms it was deemed necessary to construct both an outer and an inner harbour in order to make a per- fectly safe anchorage at all times and the work was begun in 1900. The outer harbour is being 140 Mexico and Her People To-day formed by thrmsting two massive breakwaters like immense arms out into the bay with an entrance six hundred feet wide. The longest of these breakwaters will be three thousand feet, consisting of three sections, of different angles, with the convex sides toward the sea. The other is only one-half as extensive. The foundation for these breakwaters is started thirty feet below low water mark and in some places is two hundred feet in width. Upon a rubble foundation immense blocks of concrete and natural rock are placed at random. Then on top are placed regular rows of forty-ton concrete blocks. The amount of material al- ready used and needed to complete this work is almost inconceivable. More than three- fourths of the largest breakwater is already completed. The inner basin will be wholly artificial and will occupy in part the site of the old town of Salina Cruz with an entrance ninety feet wide. Immense dredges are now at work on this basin which will be large enough to accommodate whole fleets of the largest vessels afloat. From two thousand to four thousand men have been and are still employed, the majority being natives. Although the harbour at Salina Cruz is still incomplete, this route was formally opened on The Isthmus of Tehuantepec 141 January 23rd, 1907. In the presence of a great throng of notables, including the representa- tives of twenty nations, President Diaz touched a lever which set in motion a steam winch that was used to carry the first load of cargo from a steamer to a freight car. After this car had been loaded it was transferred to Coatzacoal- cos and the President touched another lever that set in motion the machinery for unloading the car and transferring the freight to a wait- ing steamer. In this manner was opened a route that is destined to take a prominent part in the handling of the world's commerce, and which has cost the Mexican government more than $25,000,000 in gold, and the end is not yet. After four hundred years the dream of Cortez has come true and the isthmian high- way is open to the world. What advantages are claimed for this route? The benefit to Mexico is self-evident. It will greatly facilitate the commerce between the two long coast lines of the republic. This great undertaking was not begun for the na- tional trade alone. It is intended to compete for all that traffic which has heretofore gone around Cape Horn, through the Straits of Ma- gellan, or across the Panama railroad. The Tehuantepec route is one thousand, two bun- 142 Mexico and Her People To-day dred and fifty miles shorter between New York and San Francisco than the Panama route. The average freight steamer would require from four to five days to cover this distance. The managers of the Tehuantepec National railroad propose to unload a cargo, carry it across the isthmus and reload it in two days. It will probably require one day for a vessel to pass through the Panama canal. This would make a net saving of from three to four days for the Tehuantepec route. The extra cost of loading and unloading would be made up by the saving of canal dues and expenses of the ship for that period. Thus there will be a net saving of three to four days in shipment, which might be quite a feature with many classes of freight. In cheapness of transportation, the continental railroads of the United States could not compete. Already contracts have been made with a line of steamers which have heretofore run between San Francisco, Hawaii and New York via Cape Horn to transfer their freight by this route. The government claims to have more freight in sight for 1907 than the Panama railroad has ever carried in a single year. This route has been lost sight of in the en- thusiasm over the Panama canal. It will be The Isthmus of Tehuantepec 143 completed several years before the canal, and will during that interim, at least, have a great advantage over the present Panama railroad route. The same necessity of transhipment exists there, but without the fine, safe harbours, modern and commodious docks, and the quick loading and unloading machinery with which the Tehuantepec route is equipped. Note to Revised Edition. The success of the Tehuantepec National Raiboad has greatly exceeded expectations, and it was found necessary to double track the entire length of the road. The improvements at SaUna Cruz and Coatzacoalcos (now officially called Puerto Mexico) have been completed. Both cities have been made ports of call for all hnes of steamers passing near. Through Pullman service is now maintained between the City of Mexico and Salina Cruz. Since writing the original edition of this book the writer has visited Panama and gone over the canal route with Colonel Goethals, the en- gineer in charge. It is a pleasure to record an appreciation of this great work, and to know that it will be ready for the world's fleets by 1915, and probably a year earlier. There will still be a wide field of usefulness, however, for the Tehuante- pec National. OHAPTER VIII IN THE FOOTSTEPS OP THE ANCIENTS " Builded on the ruins of dead thrones Whose temple walls were old when Thebes was new ; On altars whose weird sacrificial stones With ghastly offerings were crimsoned through ; Oblivion hides and holds thy secrets fast — The dust of ages lies upon thy past, All wonderful, mysterious Mexico." * Mexico is a land of ruins and the footprints of former races can be traced all over the southern half of the country. These ruins teach us that it must have taken many cen- turies to develop the land into the condition in which it was found by the Spaniards. It was not only the growth of a long time, but it was the product of the civilization developed by many different races and tribes. Otherwise Mexico would not be filled to-day with a hun- dred tribes speaking as many distinct dialects. There are many ruins of cities extending from the Valley of Mexico to the remotest corner * " Wonderful, Mysterious Mexico, " by Madge Morris. 144 In the Footsteps of the Ancients 145 I ■ ^^ of Yiieatau, aud many of tliem show evidences of wonderful structures that are the amaze- ment of even the present generation. Not buried beneath volcanic lava, like Pompeii and Herculaneum, yet all are silent cities, for their inhabitants departed hundreds, perhaps, thou- sands of years ago. A few broken columns now remain where doubtless whole cities once stood. Nothing is known of the history of these cities. The Spanish priests, with fanatical frenzy, destroyed all of the picture writings of the Aztecs that they could lay their hands upon. So many were destroyed, some chron- iclers say, that great bonfires were made. What light these manuscripts might have cast upon the history of these early races cannot even be conjectured. As Prescott says, '' it is impossible to contemplate these mysterious monuments of a lost civilization without a strong feeling of curiosity as to who were their architects and what is their probable age." They are undoubtedly very old, and some claim they are as old as the architecture of Egypt and Hindoostan. They have marked Eastern characteristics, as in the hieroglyphical writ- ings at Palenque, in Yucatan, where are ruins of a palace and supposed holy city, with many 146 Mexico and Her People To-day- sculptured figures of human and animal beings. The same is true of Uxmal, also in that same quaint and interesting corner of Mexico. These writings never have been and probably never will be deciphered. Then at Palenque can be traced the outline of the Eoman cross which has greatly mystified antiquarians. We can only speculate on the origin of these monu- ments; whence came the people who' con- structed them; and in what period of the earth's history they were built; but specula- tion proves nothing and convinces nobody. East of the City of Mexico about twenty- seven miles lies the village of San Juan Teo- tihuacan. Near this hamlet are traces of a great city covering more than four square miles, and remains of walls and fortifications, a part of the wall that still stands being more than two hundred feet thick and thirty-two feet high. The most marked features of these ruins are the numerous pyramids, great and small, which lie scattered over the plain. Teo- tihuacan means " City of the Gods," and doubtless these pyramidal structures were a necessary part of a holy city in the eyes of the race that constructed them, and were mounds of worship. Otherwise why would a race build In the Footsteps of the Ancients 147 such great structures at such an infinite cost of labour? The largest of these numerous pyramids is called the '' Pyramid of the Sun," which has a base seven hundred feet square, and a height of one hundred and eight-seven feet. The next largest is the '' Pyramid of the Moon," which is one hundred and thirty-seven feet high, and has a base four hundred and fifty feet square. At a distance the pyramids seem rather insignificant, and their outlines resemble an ordinary steep-sided hill, but on nearer approach they are better appreciated. The comparison with the noted pyramids of Eg}^t would, at first glance, seem unfavour- able, for the vegetation and vines that cover the sides rather hide the pyramidal outline. They were probably higher originally, but the destructive work of man and action of the ele- ments have reduced the size. Recent investi- gation shows that these pyramids are built in layers of volcanic rock, cement, pottery and sun-dried brick. There are five layers — each layer being a complete pyramid m itself. It is supposed that on the summit of each pyramid was a platform which supported great golden images of the sun and moon respect- ively, but no vestige of any such image has 148 Mexico and Her People To-day ever been discovered. If made of gold, and the Spaniards set their eyes on it, it would not have remained long. Authorities differ as to whether the Toltecs, or a race that preceded them, erected these mighty structures. The Mexican government has undertaken the work of restoring the two pyramids, and has appro- priated a large sum of money to carry on the work. Several hundred labourers are now en- gaged in denuding them of the soil and growth of centuries that covers them. Near Puebla, and situated in a rich and beautiful valley, of which mention has been made elsewhere, is the most noted pyramid in Mexico — that of Cholula. Legend says that it was built by a race of giants who intended to raise it to the very heavens themselves, but that the gods became displeased and destroyed them. It is very similar in nature to the He- brew story of the Tower of Babel. Because of its great base, which is more than a thou- sand feet on each side, and covers twenty acres, and has a height of only one hundred and sev- enty-seven feet, it looks like a natural eleva- tion that has been squared in places and lev- elled at the top rather than a pyramid. Like the other pyramids the sides are overgrown with trees and bushes. Examination shows In the Footsteps of the Ancients 149 that it has been constructed of sun-dried brick, clay and limestone. I quote the dimensions of two of the most famous Egyptian pyramids in order that the reader may better understand the comparative height and base of those and the Mexican structures: HEIGHT. BASE ON EACH SIDE Cheops, 448 feet 728 feet Mycerinus, 162 « 580 " Cholula, 177 « 1,000 « Sun 187 « 700 « Moon 137 « 450 « This valley was sacred in early times. Cor- tez says he counted four hundred towers in the city of Cholula (a much larger city then than now), and no temple had more than two towers. Above the city loomed the great pyra- mid, on the summit of which stood a sumptu- ous temple in which was the image of the mystic deity, Quetzalcoatl. He had '' ebon features, wearing a mitre on his head waving with plumes of fire, with a resplendent collar of gold around his neck, pendants of mosaic turquoise on his ears, a jewelled sceptre in one hand, and a shield curiously painted, the em- blem of his rule over the winds, in the other." This was the god who drew pilgrims and de- 150 Mexico and Her People To-day votees by the thousands from the farthest cor- ners of Anahuac. This god was credited with power over rains, and was appealed to especially in time of drouth. Bandelier, who made an exhaustive study of this district, translates an early Span- ish writer as follows: '^ To this god they prayed whenever they lacked water, and sac- rificed to it children from six to ten years of age, whom they captured or bought for the purpose. When they sacrificed, they carried the children up the hill in procession, whither went some old men singing, and before the idol they cut the child open with a knife, taking out the heart, and they burnt incense to the idol and afterwards buried the baby there be- fore the idol." Thus it is seen that the Na- huatl tribe, who occupied this valley, pursued the same bloody rites as the Aztecs. The first act of Cortez was to destroy this temple and erect a Christian church on the spot, so that spires and crosses have replaced the pagan towers. All over the valley are many great churches so conspicuous in com- parison with the humble homes of the natives. The view from the summit of this ancient structure is grand and imposing. John L. Stoddard is inspired by this scene and speaks In the Footsteps of the Ancients 151 as follows : ' ' Whatever else of Mexico may be forgotten, I shall remember to my latest breath that wonderfully impressive vision from Cho- lula. Before me rose, against the darkening sky, a mighty cross, the sculptured proof that here Christianity had proved victorious; and as I lingered, my feet upon the Aztec pyra- mid, my hand upon the symbol of the conquer- or's faith, my eyes turned towards that ever- lasting pinnacle of snow, I thought the lesson of Cholula to be this: that higher, grander, and far more enduring than all the different religions of humanity are the Eternal Power they imperfectly reveal; and that above the temples, pyramids, and crosses, which mark the blood-stained pathway of our race, rises a lofty mountain peak, whose glory falls alike upon the Aztec and the Spaniard, and in whose heaven-born radiance all races and all cen- turies may find their inspiration and their hope. ' ' The Valley of Oaxaca seems to have been the favourite dwelling place of one or more of the early races of Mexico. All over the vales that centre at Oaxaca, and on the sur- rounding hills, are ruins of former cities and palaces that strongly resemble in outline and decoration the works of the Ptolemies and 152 Mexico and Her People To-day Pharaohs. Next to Mitla, the most noted ruins in this valley are those of Monte Alban. The site of this ancient city is four miles from Oaxaca on the summit of a mountain, about eleven hundred feet above the valley. The ruins extend for a distance of more than a mile along the ridge, and enclose a great rectangu- lar, depressed court nine hundred feet long, and three hundred feet in width. There are some well-preserved, sculptured stones with pictorial inscriptions, and images of gods. Because of its situation, which commands a complete view of these valleys in every direc- tion, it is supposed that this place was intended for defence and a place of refuge in troublous times. The view from the summit is magnifi- cent and well repays the traveller for a couple of hours' ride on the back of that sadly- wise, and much-maligned animal — the Mexican mule. The village of Mitla is situated about twenty- five miles south-east of Oaxaca. It is best visited from that city by coach or mules. We hired a coach and driver, an unprepossessing looking outfit, and started on the journey. " How long will it take? " I asked the dri- ver. "A las doce/' he replied in idiomatic Span- In the Footsteps of the Ancients 153 isli, meaning that we would arrive at twelve o'clock. As we had started at seven o'clock, that made it a five hours' journey. About an hour's ride out of Oaxaca is the village of Tule, where, in the churchyard, and overshadowing the sacred structure, stands the famous Big Tree of Tule which deserves a passing notice. Although not a ruin, it is a relic of prehistoric days long gone by. This venerable giant is one of the largest trees in the world, exceeding in circumference the fa- mous redwoods of California, and equalling the largest reported specimens of the gigantic baobab of Africa. This great tree is one hun- dred and fifty-four feet in circumference six feet above the ground. Twenty-eight people with their hands outstretched, and touching their finger tips, can just encircle its great girth. The height is one hundred and sixty feet, and the spread of the branches one hun- dred and forty feet. It is a species of the cypress called by the Aztecs ahuehuete. The great traveller, Humboldt, visited this tree about the middle of the last century and affixed a tablet containing his name and an inscrip- tion. As a proof that this old cypress is still growing, one sees that this tablet is now almost grown over with bark nearly a foot thick. 154 Mexico and Her People To-day Tule is a quaint village where the thatched huts are enclosed by fences of the prickly cac- tus, called organo, because of the resemblance of its branches to the pipes of an organ, and the lanes are shaded by trees. Underneath the higher trees grow the orange and lemon, while the oleander and other flowering bushes add their brightness to the scene. After being held up for a road charge of seven cents by the officials of the village, which we paid, the driver is allowed to proceed. We pass through villages with the poetical names of Tlacolulu and Tlacochahuaya. As the coach bounces along the rough highway, over the road on a hillside are seen caves where human beings live who are literally cliff-dwellers. Then the valley opens up, and far ahead is seen San Pablo Mitla a typical Indian village built around the hacienda of Don Felix Quero, who is a sort of feudal lord over the neighbouring peons. Good entertainment is furnished for the traveller, and it is delightful to rest within the high walls of this hospitable stopping- place. The first mention of the ruins at this village is by a Spanish writer nearly four centuries ago. His description would not be much amiss to-day. It is as follows : ' ' We passed through In the Footsteps of the Ancients 155 a pueblo which is called Mictlan, signifying ' hell ' in the native tongue, where were found some edifices more worth seeing than anything else in New Spain. Among them was a temple of the demon, and the dwelling of its attend- ants — very sightly, particularly one hall made of something like lattice work. The fabric was of stone, with many figures and shapes ; it had many doorways, each one built of three great stones, two at the sides and one at the top, all very thick and wide. In these quarters there was another hall containing round pillars, each one of a single piece, and so thick that two men could barely embrace them; their height might be five fathoms." To what purposes were these truly magnifi- cent structures dedicated? Were they palaces, temples, tombs, fortresses, dwelling places, storehouses or places of refuge? Neither ar- cheologists nor antiquarians have satisfac- torily answered these questions. According to many of the leading archeologists they are the most interesting and best preserved ruins in North America. Here was a great city built by a race prior to the Aztecs, for that race could tell the Spanish conquerors nothing of its builders. The secrets guarded by the huge monoliths of stone, and the high mosaic-cov- 156 Mexico and Her People To-day ered walls of Mitla are safe from prying eyes. Not one city alone stood here, for there are many remains of walls, columns and huge mon- oliths thrown down similar to these, scattered all over this valley. The best authority says that they were used for tombs but this could not have been the only use. They were prob- ably also used for places of worship, public purposes, or cities of refuge, or perhaps for all those purposes. A close investigation shows that there are five distinct groups of the ruins, but some of them are in badly preserved condition. The village covers the site of a part of them. There is a similarity in the structure of all, as the outer walls are composed of oblong panels of mosaic forming arabesques and grecques. At first sight, or at a distance, it looks like sculptured designs on the walls. Closer inspection reveals the fact that this mosaic is formed of pieces of stone accurately cut and fitted into the face of the walls. These pieces are about seven inches in length, one inch in thickness, and two in breadth. The patterns cannot well be described as they are so complicated. All the ornamentation con- sists of geometrical figures, either rectangular or diagonal, and differs from all other ruins ENTRANCE TO THE UNDERGROUND CHAMBER, MITEA NORTH TEMPLE^ MITLA HALL OF THE MONOLITHS, MITLA In the Footsteps of the Ancients 157 in Mexico, in that there are no human or ani- mal figures. There is an underground chamber beneath one of the temples, built in the shape of a cross with each arm about twelve feet long. The sides are worked into the same mosaic pattern as the rest of the walls. It is generally be- lieved that these chambers were tombs, al- though some contend that they were the en- trance to subterranean passages leading long distances away. If so, the passages were filled up long ago. The northwestern group is in the best state of preservation. One of the buildings here covers nearly eight thousand square feet, and has all its massive walls intact with scarcely a stone thrown down. The characteristic en- trance, consisting of three doors, side by side, is seen here also, fronting the interior of the court. The lintels are immense blocks of stone eighteen feet long, five feet wide and four feet high. How these immense stones were trans- ported to this spot and raised without the aid of machinery, is as great a mystery as similar accomplishments by the Egyptians. Through these doors the famous Hall of Monoliths, or Columns, is reached. This is a wonderful relic of prehistoric architecture. The six mono- 158 Mexico and Her People To-day litMc coliunns, still standing in this room are each twelve feet in height and almost nine feet in circumference. They are plain stones hav- ing neither pedestal nor capital and are unique among the ruins of the world. Torquemada, an old Spanish historian, writes of this hall in the following quaint style : ' ' There was in those Edifices, or Square of the Temple, another Hall, all framed around Pillars of Stone; very high and so thick that scarce might two Men of good height embrace them so as to touch finger tips the one with the other. And these Pillars were all of one piece ; and they say that all the Pillars and Columns, from top to bottom, was four Fathoms. The Pillars were very like to those of St. Mary, the Greater, of Rome, all very well and smoothly wrought." This hall is more than a hundred feet long, and twenty feet wide. These great stones may have sup- ported a roof formerly but there is no evidence of it at the present time. From the Hall of the Monoliths a dark, stone-covered passage leads into a room called the Audience Chamber. This is a splendid room with its walls in carved mosaics, or a set- ting of tiles, after the Grecian models. There are four long, narrow rooms, or corridors, on In the Footsteps of the Ancients 159 either side of this main chamber without other entrance except the one just mentioned. One of these, the West room, is most beautiful and is nearly perfect, as scarcely a tile is broken or missing from its exquisitely inlaid walls which at first inspection look like stucco work. The tiles are so accurately inlaid that no mor- tar was used, or needed, to hold them in place. This is the Corridor of the Mosaics. There are also traces of a lustrous, dark, red paint, used on a hard cement plaster. It is quite probable that all the buildings in the five groups were as carefully constructed and as exquisitely ornamented as this one, but they have been destroyed by succeeding races. North of this group was another ruin on the walls of which a Christian church has been built. Most of the materials used in its con- struction came from this old temple or palace. The sacristy of this church is formed in part of a portion of the old building, and covered with a tile roof. This structure was the largest of all in size, extending over a space nearly three hundred feet long by one hundred feet wide, and with walls from five to six feet in thickness. One room is now used as a stable, and contains some strange hieroglyphics done in a lustrous red paint which have never been 160 Mexico and Her People To-day deciphered. These are the only semblance to anything like writing, or historical inscrip- tions, that appear anywhere in the rnins. In the centre of the main court is a hard cement pavement laid out in the form of a square with a cut stone border. This may have been in- tended for ornament or for human sacrifices. The latter conjecture might not be erroneous, knowing, as we do, the customs of those early Mexican races. There are many other evidences of ruins near Mitla. Clay idols, or images, made of terra- cotta are found all over the neighbourhood. Children hunt for specimens and bring them to tourists for sale. It is also said that many stone wedges, and copper chisels and axes, have been discovered here but I did not see any of them. Who built these ruins? Bancroft, the his- torian of Mexico, says that they were built by the Zapotecs at an early period of their civili- zation. The Indians now inhabiting this val- ley are Zapotecs and they are a primitive, simple and harmless race. If these people, who now dwell in thatch hovels and caves, were the once proud race that erected these mag- nificent structures, then we must say, '' How have the mighty fallen." What must these A ZAPOTECO WOMAN In the Footsteps of the Ancients 161 structures have been in the heyday of their prosperity that they are now so glorious in their mellow decay? The famous Palace of the Alhambra, glorious monument to the genius of the Moor, is scarcely more magnifi- cent than these ruins lying here within the little Indian village of Mitla. The traveller can give his imagination full play for there is no written history to destroy the scenes he cre- ates. He can in fancy re-create these beautiful structures; people these courts and halls with royalty, priests or warriors; make the air vocal with the chants of priests or shrieks of the victims of human sacrifice; and there is no one or no record to rebuke him. CHAPTER IX WOMAN AND HEE SPHEEE The life and position of woman in Mexico varies mucli by reason of the heterogeneous character of the population. Because of the absence of a clearly defined middle class it is a fairly safe proposition to say that there are but two classes in Mexico, Creoles and Indians. Creoles include all those who are Europeans or in whom the European blood predominates. Domestic life among the Creole class savours of the East. The ideas with respect to women are Moorish rather than American. Although not obliged to appear on the street with face enshrouded in a shawl or veil, yet the young woman who has respect for her good name would not go abroad without the duenna, or some female companion. Another reminder of Oriental exclusiveness is seen in the life of the ladies of the wealthier classes who always drive in closed carriages even in this land of 162 Woman and Her Sphere 163 balmy air and splendid sunsliine and, when shopping, do not deign to leave the carriage. On account of the restrictions against the appearance of women in public, the custom grew up in Spain and Mexico of allowing them to use the windows and balconies for observa- tion. In the cool of the evening the windows on the streets are opened and women, espe- cially the young ladies, appear there to watch the carriages and passers-by and nod to their friends. The home life and social restrictions toward women are inherited from Spanish an- cestors who were at one time the aristocracy and ruling class of Mexico. Nowhere is the sentiment of home stronger than among the Creoles. There may be no such word as home in his vocabulary but the casa, or house, of the Mexican is his castle and he protects it in every way from prying eyes. One writer has expressed his view as follows: — "The in- tense feeling of individuality which so strongly marks the Spanish character and which in the political world is so fatal an element of strife and obstruction, favours this peculiar domes- ticity. The Castillian is submissive to his king and his priest ; haughty and inflexible with his equals. But his own house is a refuge from the contests of out of doors." 164 Mexico and Her People To-day In the home the father is absolute lord and master and all bow to him. There never comes a time when the children are not subject more or less to parental authority. Yet, in general, the sway is so mild that it is readily yielded to and is scarcely felt. Grown-up sons and daughters do not forget the respect and obedi- ence that was expected of them when they were children. The reverence for parents increases with the passing of the years. A man never grows too old to kiss the hand of his aged mother. The old lady dressed in sombre black and who looks like a poor relation may be the one whose wishes rule. Harmony does not exist in every family and the exceptions are striking ones. Where quarrels and family dis- sensions do occur, the pride and jealousy of the race renders them the bitterest and fiercest in the world. These vindictive feuds in fam- ilies frequently led to duels and stabbing af- frays to defend personal honour and dignity in former days. A man and wife will often live for years beneath the same roof without speak- ing. They cannot be divorced but neither will speak the first word and each rather admires the grit of the other. The home life is jealously shielded from curious eyes. In no place in the world is the Woman and Her Sphere 165 social circle more closely guarded than among the higher classes in the City of Mexico. The thick walls, the barred, prison-like windows and the massive, well-guarded doors prevent intrusion and perhaps serve to foster this in- clination to lead exclusive lives. Cultured Americans, unless in the official set, who have lived there for years have found it impossible to break into these exclusive circles. Whether this action is due to jealousy, diffidence, a feel- ing of superiority, or aversion to aliens the fact remains that they are very loth to admit Americans into the privacy of their homes. The foreigner has few opportunities of judg- ing intelligently of the women for they are immured so closely within the four walls of their dwellings. Social life in the semi-public, gregarious ways of American cities is unknown and would not suit these privacy-loving, do- mestic women. In '^ The Awakening of a Nation " the au- thor, Mr. C. F. Lummis, gives a very good description of the Creole woman: '^ Always and everywhere the Spanish- American female face is interesting ; at least as often as in other bloods it is beautiful. Photographs tell but half the story, for complexion is beyond them. But a certain clearness of feature, the almost 166 Mexico and Her People To-day- invariable beauty of the eyes and fine strength of the brows seem as much a Spanish birth- right as the high-bred hand and foot. Not even the Parisian face is so flexible in expression, so fit for archness, so graphic to the mood. Yet there is a certain presence in it not to be unnoticed, not to be forgotten. To no woman on earth is religion a more vital, ever-present, all-pervading actuality; and that is why you meet the face of the Madonna almost literally at every corner in Spanish-America. And it is not a superficial thing. There is none to whom the wife-heart, the mother-heart is truer- womanly. ' ' The Mexican men are passionate admirers of the fair sex. Perhaps it is because of the be- witchery of their black, sparkling eyes. Cer- tainly it is not on account of the white paste which is plastered over their faces or the rouge on their lips. Nor have they added to their attractiveness by the substitution of the Pari- sian hat for the graceful lace mantilla which lent itself so well to the gentle art of coquetry. There are many handsome women among the Creoles but they are not all beautiful as some writers would lead the reader to infer. They are bright, vivacious and naturally clever. They have a quick understanding which only Woman and Her Sphere 167 needs to be cultivated and perhaps this intel- ligence is quicker and more active than that of the men. They can weave and embroider with taste and skill. They know a little music and a little French but, in the American sense, they are not well educated. The real intel- lectual element is wanting and the understand- ing is uncultivated. The higher education for women has not received the stamp of approval in this land of '^ to-morrow " and the sex has not yet become an important factor in the busi- ness or professional world. '' If only learned wives," says one, " are responsible for that poor, downtrodden, pitiable specimen of man called the henpecked husband, then a timid man would be safe in choosing a Mexican wife." The patriarchal element of society in which man is recognized as lord and master is still in force among these people. The ques- tion of woman's rights has never yet agitated the bosoms of these gentle women. Domestic freedom in the sense understood by Americans is absent. The daughters are closely watched by their mothers who seldom permit them out of their sight unless accom- panied by some older woman or faithful serv- ant. Such a thing as permitting a daughter to have a young man call on her or accompany 168 Mexico and Her People To-day — ■■^■II.M — ■— ^^^^ »^^— ^^ ^^1^ — ■! ■ III I ■ II — ■■ —■ ■II II^ M IMI WMn ^ her to the theatre would never enter the mind of the Mexican mother. In her estimation the men do not deserve any confidence until they are married. The man, of course, thinks that these precautions are unnecessarily cruel. Nevertheless mammas think they are essen- tial, pater familias approves and so the custom remains. Perhaps it is these restrictions that are reponsible for the reputation the senoritas, or young women, have of being flirts or co- quettes. They are overflowing with life and spirits and their black eyes look so full of mis- chief that sometimes they seem to be just spoil- ing for a flirtation. They are very animated in conversation and in talking keep time with hands, knees, shoulders, elbows and face. Their talk is full of the most extravagant and seemingly profane expressions. " Oh, Jesus! " says one girl, '' what a fetch- ing hat." '' Mary Most Pure," replies her companion, *' it must have cost five pesos." They can stare an American out of counte- nance and look him straight in the eye but it is only a look of curiosity. The social pleas- ures resulting from the intermingling of the sexes that are so common with us are not en- joyed by them. At a dance the men retire to Woman and Her Sphere 169 one side of the room after a number and the women take seats on the opposite side. Mar- riages among the wealthier classes are gen- erally made by the parents without consulta- tion with the principals in an affair supposed to be of the hearts. After the formal engage- ment the intended husband is allowed to call on his fiancee in the presence of the entire family and may take her out to the theatre when accompanied by the mother and all the female members of the household. Marriage is a formidable undertaking for the groom must furnish the entire bridal outfit, in addi- tion to the house and its furnishings. Two ceremonies become necessary, too, if the couple wish to be married by the rites of the church. The civil ceremony is absolutely essential and cannot be dispensed with for under the law this is the only legal marriage. And yet with all these inconveniences to courtship and mat- rimony, bachelors are less numerous than they are where every facility is granted for love making. Love and religion are practically the only two subjects with which a senorita is expected to concern herself. She is, probably, not in- tentionally or by nature a flirt and she might scorn to inveigle in her meshes the heart of 170 Mexico and Her People To-day an admirer, but she cannot refrain from using her irresistible eyes or entirely avoid the co- quettish use of the indispensable fan with its wordless telegraphy. The Mexican lover pays extravagant homage to his sweetheart and a woman nowhere else is paid such delicate and elaborate compliments. The Spanish method of courtship in which the lady is pictured as sitting at a barred window or leaning from a balcony to listen to the honeyed phrases of her lover or the music of his guitar has reached its highest state of perfection in Mexico. In the current language of that country a man who is courting a woman is " playing the bear." It is so named from the restless walk- ing to and fro of the love-stricken youth in front of the window of his inamorata, in a manner not unlike a captive bear in a cage. The same method pursued in the United States would either result in a man being sent to the lunatic asylum as suffering from a *' brain storm " or to the workhouse. A young man who sees a young lady on the street whom he admires, begins by following her home although it may be days or .weeks before he will venture to speak to her. Hav- ing reached her casa he will begin the Jiacer el oso, or ' ' playing the bear, ' ' by walking back Titive called General- issimo, and Morelas was ilected to this position for life, or ''so long Us he was worthy." Shortly after this his forces were defeated at Valladolid, now called Morelia, and his power began to wane, though resistance was kept up for some time afterwards with varying success. Spanish troops had arrived, and stronger leaders were in charge of the government forces and the cause of independence looked dark. The plans of Morelas were betrayed to the enemy and he was captured. The ecclesias- tical tribunes covered him with ignominy. He was then sentenced to death b}^ the military au- thorities, and shot in the little village of San Cristobal Ecatepec, near the capital, on Decem- ber 22d, 1815, dying the death of a hero. This muleteer-priest-warrior was an able leader, an 1 This citation and some of the other quotations in this chapter, as well as a numher of the historical facts, are from the " Story of Mexico," by Susan Hale, published by G. P. Putnam's Sons of London and New York. 352 Mexico and Her People To-day honest man and a patriotic citizen. He seemed devoid of personal ambition, although accepting title for the sake of the cause he fought for. He was possessed of restless energy and great piety, for he always made confession before entering battle. To-day, he is second only to Hidalgo in the affections of the people, and worthily fills that position. Over the door of the house once owned by him in Morelia appears the following inscription: — " Morelas the illustrious Immortal Hero. In this house honoured by thy presence Salute you the grateful people of Morelia." The revolution was seemingly crushed at the death of Morelas but a few patriots retired to the mountains, and there kept alive for better days the sacred fire of liberty. Guerrero was one of those heroes who showed an unwearying activity, and kept up a constant warfare upon the government forces. The next prominent name in succession among those leaders of the movement for freedom was Agustin de Iturbide, a former active and able officer of the royalist forces, and to whom more than anyone else was due the failure of Morelas. Deserting the cause of Spain, because he thought injustice had been The Story of the Republic 353 doue liim, General Iturbide issued the " Plan of Iguala " on the 20th of February, 1820, com- posed of three articles: preservation of the Eoman Catholic church; independence of Mexico under a monarchical form of govern- ment with a prince of the royal house of Spain as ruler; union and equality of Spaniards and Mexicans. From this proclamation his army be- came known as the army of the three guaran- tees. His act was full of duplicity, for he had obtained the largest force possible from the Viceroy Apodaca in order to turn them over to the new scheme. Before the viceroy could recover from his surprise, Iturbide, who had been joined by most of the insurgent leaders, had started on his victorious campaign. Valladolid, Queretero and Puebla succumbed. The viceroy tried by sup- pressing liberty, and enforcing enlistments in the royal army, to stem the tide but in vain, and he was deposed. O'Donoju, the sixty-fourth and last viceroy, arrived about this time at Vera Cruz, but was intercepted by Iturbide and en- tered into the treaty of Cordoba in which the independence of Mexico was recognized with a sovereign to be selected from the royal house of Spain, and a provisional Junta formed. Itur- bide was selected as president of this Junta, and 354 Mexico and Her People To-day made a triumphal entry into the City of Mexico on the 27th of September, 1821. This ended three hundred years of Spanish rule in Mexico. Iturbide had accomplished in a little more than a year, and with little bloodshed, what ten years of strife had failed to do. He can not be classed with Hidalgo and Morelas as a pure patriot, but he has been officially designated as the '' Liberator of Mexico." The rejection of the treaty of Cordoba by the Cortes of Spain gave new impetus to the smoul- dering ambitions of Iturbide. The second Mexican Congress having been called, Iturbide at a packed session was declared Emperor by a majority of four to one of those voting, but not a constitutional majority, and he took the office as Agustin I. When he was crowned and anointed in the cathedral with much form and solemnity, on the 21st of July, 1822, the ambi- tion of this self-made emperor had reached its full. The saying that uneasy lies the head that wears a crown never had better applica- tion than in this instance. Other leaders in the cause of liberty felt that they had been slighted, and every discontented person made common cause against the Emperor. A republic was proclaimed at Vera Cruz in December of the same year by Santa Anna, who was conunander The Story of the Republic 355 of a regiment statioued there, and lie issued a pronu7iciamento. This plan failed, but it en- couraged Bravo, Guerrero and other revolution- ary leaders, and rebellion sprung up in a num- ber of places. Iturbide had dissolved congress and this increased the dissatisfaction. A more formidable revolt arose, and on March 19th, 1823, Iturbide abdicated without attempting to retain his position by force of arms. A few weeks later the ex-Emperor left Mexico and sailed for Italy, having been granted an annual sum of $25,000 for his services. He soon went to England and wrote the government from there that the republic was in danger, and he would come back to help fight the battles of his country. He did not know that his death had been decreed by congress, and so he set sail upon his last voyage. When he arrived at Vera Cruz he was captured, and after some de- lay was executed at Padilla on the 19th of July, 1824, as a traitor, in his forty-first year. His body was buried in a roofless old church and lay there until 1838, when it was removed to the Cathedral. Opinion is very much divided as to the rank that should be accorded Iturbide. He was able, brave, honest so far as is known, and probably fell a victim to his ambition like many a man 356 Mexico and Her People To-day before him. The relative regard in which he is held is shown in the fact that the town which gave both him and his former vanquished foe, Morelas, birth, is now called Morelia, and a state is also named Morelas. In contrast to this there is neither city nor state named after Iturbide, and the famous Iturbide Hotel in the capital city, once his residence, is the only institution perpetuating his name so far as I could learn. The only things accomplished by him during his brief reign were the settlement of the titles by which he and his family should be addressed, the succession to the throne, order of precedence among the dignitaries, allowances of himself and family, and the creation of the Order of Guadalupe to bestow honours upon his fol- lowers. At last a so-called republic was established, and Guadalupe Victoria was inaugurated as the first president on the 10th day of October, 1824, and served until 1828. When the fort of San Juan de Ulua at Vera Cruz lowered its flag, in 1825, the last vestige of Spanish power was gone, and the red and yellow striped banner of the Iberian peninsula was not to be seen on Mexican soil. And Mexico, as then constituted, was a big country, containing almost twice as much territory as to-day. From the end of the The Story of the Republic 357 administration of President Victoria until after the death of Maximilian, there was not a year of peace in Mexico. Revolutions, pronuncia- mentos, '' plans " and restorations followed each other in quick succession. Generals, presi- dents and dictators sprang up like mushrooms, and their position was as evanescent. The con- gress unwisely decreed the expulsion of the Spaniards, and their departure took much of the wealth of the country. Revolutions were an every-day affair. A man in position of au- thority did not know when his time to be shot might come. A sudden turn of fortune might send him either to the national palace, or before a squad of men with guns aimed at his heart. A good illustration of this uncertainty of af- fairs is seen in the treatment and fate of the grim old patriot Guerrero. Born of very low Indian parents he had climbed to the front and borne many of the burdens of the struggle with Spain. He cheerfully yielded his command to the renegade Iturbide, and fought valiantly under that leader for liberty. By a turn of fortune he became the third president in 1829. A few months later he was compelled to flee, but was soon afterwards betrayed and captured at Acapulco. At a farcical trial he was con- demned to death as *' morally incapable " to -358 Mexico and Her People To-day act as president, and sliot on the 15th of Feb- ruary, 1831, at Cuilapa. Soon afterwards he was declared a martyr and his body removed to the capital with honours. Two monuments to this martyr now adorn that city, and a state has been named after him. Under his short rule slavery was abolished by statute. Elections eventually became a farce. The un- fortunate habit was acquired of appealing to arms instead of submitting to the result of the ballot. The trouble was that the people had copied the letter, and not the spirit of the Amer- ican constitution. Liberty was interpreted as license, after their exaggerated ideas of the for- mer. The scheming politicians would hesitate at nothing — revolution or civil war — to attain private ends or personal aggrandizement. A general indolence of character, and the hin- drances to the acquirement of property among the masses, made the people more willing to yield to disturbing and designing politicians. They are impetuous by nature, impatient of re- straint and easily fired up. The rapid changes in government can be seen when you read that there were five different presidents in each of the years 1846 and 1847, and four in 1855 — not an evidence of tranquillity at least. The two The Story of the Republic 359 leading parties coustautly at war were the '* progresistas " and '' retrogrades." During this period a few prominent names are constantly recurring, and by far the most prominent one is that of the notorious Santa Anna, who, for more than fifty years, occupied a prominent, but not always honourable, place in Mexican affairs. Earlier in life his restless energy was expended in a fairly commendable way, and he fought some battles in defense of the rights of the people. During the war of in- tervention with France in 1838 he lost his leg in the defense of Vera Cruz. Ever afterwards, when in trouble, he would flourish his severed limb and remind the people how he had been mutilated in the defense of his country, with the effect of restoring himself in public favour. As he grew older his naturally quarrelsome dis- position increased, his vanity knew no bounds, and when at the height of his glory, he de- clared himself dictator and ordered all people to address him as " most serene highness." Never honest except as a matter of policy, his cupidity became more pronounced, until, near the close of the war with the United States, he offered to appoint commissioners and confirm a treaty of peace for the sum of one million dol- lars. First elected president in 1833, he was 360 Mexico and Her People To-day again either chosen to, or assumed the office, in 1839, 1846, 1847, 1853 and 1855, but did not serve long at any time. On one occasion his ampu- tated leg was buried with great ceremony, but afterwards fickle sentiment changed, and the martyr part of this hero was brought forth by the rabble, dragged through the streets of the capital, and insulting epithets heaped upon the former idol. Santa Anna led the forces against the Texas insurrectionists, and was the man responsible for the Alamo slaughter, when one hundred and forty brave Texans were trapped and slain. Visitors to that place are still shown the stains made by the blood of that brave frontiersman, Davy Crockett, and the cry of ' * Eemember the Alamo " still has potency. This insurrection was soon followed by the war between Mexico and the United States. Franklin says, there never was a good war nor a bad peace. The United States can not be justified in warring upon Mexico, though the re- sults have perhaps been for the best with both nations. Bancroft does not mince words in his treatment of the subject for he says: ^' It (the Mexican War) was a premeditated and prede- termined affair; it was the result of a deliber- ately calculated scheme of robbery on the part The Story of the Republic 361 of the superior force." The result was a fore- gone conclusion, for Mexico, torn by internal dissensions, impoverished by the expense of revolutions and official robbery, and with a gov- ernment changing with every change of the seasons, had neither armies, money nor sup- plies for such a conflict. The people were used to the smell of powder but were not trained sol- diers, and the " generals " were simply a few of the twelve thousand recipients of military commissions that had been distributed by various presidents in the preceding three years. ' ' Plans ' ' promulgated by one party were bom- barded with ' ' pronunciamentos ' ' from another. This was the condition of affairs when General Taylor assumed the offensive and fought the battle of Palo Alto. Mexico might have sued for peace at this time, but no government was in power long enough to negotiate a treaty. A special envoy sent from Washington at the request of one president was refused an audience by a new one, who had usurped the office before his arrival. Generals Taylor and Fremont subdued Northern Mexico, and General Scott later began his memorable march toward the ancient Aztec capital, from Vera Cruz, like Cortez of old. Santa Anna, who had been ^' recuperating " from pubhc unpopu- 362 Mexico and Her People To-day larity at Havana, returned and state after state immediately ' ' pronounced ' ' in his favour. He issued a manifesto assuming the executive con- trol and took the field against the invaders. He first tried to secure $15,000,000 from the Church, but although the priests hated the '' northern heretics " they were loth to give up the coin, and little was secured. Vera Cruz fell after two weeks' bombardment, and Puebla yielded to the Americans. Patriotism was finally aroused to save the City of Mexico, but the victories of Chapultepec, Chorubusco and Molino del Eey were followed by the triumphal entry of Gen- eral Scott into the capital. The treaty of Guadalupe-Hidalgo ceded to the United States more than six hundred thousand square miles of the Mexican domain, including some of the richest mineral lands of the republic. Disgraced and humiliated as Mexico had been, it was, I be- lieve, the beginning of better things for that country. Santa Anna went into voluntary exile to Jamaica. The first president after the war, Herrera, actually served the appointed time of his ofSce, but disorder soon began under his successor. '^ Pronouncing " became popular again, and Santa Anna returned. He was made dictator for a short time by his favourites. This The Story of the Republic 363 was the last oliiee held by this selfish politician. He exiled himself to St. Thomas again, and afterwards in Elizabethport, New Jersey. Dur- ing the second empire he tried to curry favour with both sides, but neither would listen to him. Discouraged and disheartened he lived abroad, until, burdened by the weight of eighty years, he sought and obtained permission to return to the capital, and died on the 20th of June, 1876. Thus passed a man who had lived in stirring times, was most intensely hated, had been president six times, military dictator four times, had upset fifteen governments, had been marked for the assassin's bullet many times; and yet he lived to a ripe old age and died a natural death. However, all his glory had faded, and, blind, lame and infirm, he spent his last days in extreme poverty. Here is a picture of this man drawn by Eev. William Butler,^ who visited him about a year before his death : ' ' Santa Anna was living in an obscure street, neglected and forgotten by all parties On entering the apartment we found the old man sitting on a sofa, behind which hung a picture of his wife ' her serene highness, Dolores Tosta de Santa Anna ' arrayed as a vice-queen. The magnificence of the painting 1 " Mexico in Transition " by William Butler. 364 Mexico and Her People To-day- contrasted sadly with, tlie poverty-stricken as- pect of the room and furniture. To him, how- ever, this could make but little difference, as we soon saw that he was totally blind as well as feeble and broken in spirit, with a tendency to mental weakness. ' ' He was buried in the ceme- tery at Guadalupe without honours or recogni- tion by the government, and his remains still rest there. As I gazed upon his tomb I could not help thinking what a contrast between bis career and that of the patriots Hidalgo, Morelas, and Juarez. The early constitution had declared that the Eoman Catholic religion should perpetually be the religion of Mexico. Nevertheless a struggle had been growing up between the clericals and liberals for many years with increasing inten- sity. It finally centred in a struggle over the sequestration of the church property, and be- came wider and wider until the whole country was involved and divided into two great parties. The liberals were probably just as good Chris- tians as the others but thought the Church bad too much wealth. At this juncture there arose a pure Indian, of lowly parentage, who never saw a school un- til he was twelve years of age. His name was Benito Juarez. Although ever professing de- fl * , 3p!^sTj^B^|H > L ^ ik \ Ip". .> te.*-|' Ift^ 1 I^C' "" 1^ f^ |||l:.f '. c^^" ^^^ / m^S^i&i: I .P*r ' ^^1%;: ■; ■ '.'^ ^i^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^Hr ' ,/-•?,- ^ y^^/. B ' '^'ir piL ^tjlKmM^^' ■'■■■■■■ 'V"* " ■ „*_.!iiH?,-: i^ata-;'- 1 -"- ■ ~.!JlkiBWK^' K^' '' ' Ifc*-. ■ "" ^Fj^^E^-^- ^ ■ ■:'- , ' '.■;■ - > . ^' '"mMt" ■'^^ ''W 1 I^J'/, .-." ->«^'<^^l I>-^ 'mgm- '^m _, 1 B^'^b^ -' ^HSHM 1^': t-^^H ■Ik;' .-'-' ^--r^PV tl ' mm A VILLAGE CHURCH The Story of the Republic 365 vout failii, he early espoused the cause of the anti-clerical party. He was banished by Santa Anna and fled to New Orleans, but opinion changed and his sentiments became the popular views. The new constitution of 1857 declared the separation of church and state. Juarez had been elected President of the Supreme Court under Comonfort. The latter was compelled to flee the country and Juarez became president under the constitution, in 1857. Congress passed a law confiscating church property and civil war was begun. Juarez took the field in person and did not reach the capital until three years later. These three years have been called the years of horrors. The liberals were excom- municated by the church, and the papal delegate and several bishops were ordered out of the country in turn by Juarez. Ministerial crises and resignations became chronic. Guerillas and robbers were bold and attacked many aliens, and foreign obligations were unpaid because of the impoverished condition of the country. Juarez alone remained cool in the midst of all these disturbances. The convention entered into between France, England and Spain for a joint intervention in Mexican affairs on the 31st day of October, 1861, brought new embarrass- ment to the Indian reformer. Underneath these 366 Mexico and Her People To-day acts of the convention the crafty hand of Napo- leon can be seen. The man who had accom- plished one coup d' Etat was a sworn enemy to all republican institutions. The pretext for this intervention was the collection of some money claims and reparation for alleged offences. Spain no doubt looked forward to a little re- venge. The Spanish fleet occupied Vera Cruz on the 14th of December, 1861, followed by the other armies. A conference took place at Orizaba with Juarez who acknowledged the money claims, and Spain and England with- drew their forces. The French remained, secretly supported and encouraged by the ex- treme church party, and advanced to and captured Puebla. Distracted and disheartened by the state of affairs, the prospect of a stable government made the way easy to place Maxi- milian upon the throne as Emperor of Mexico, and this was done. He and the empress arrived on the 28th of May, 1864. Maximilian was a liberal ruler and the Empress Carlotta won the people by her charming personality and benev- olences. As long as the French forces remained his throne was secure. The prompt and decisive action of Secretary Seward sounded the death knell of Maximilian's ambitions. Napoleon The Story of the Republic 367 withdrew his troops, and Maximilian might have easily escaped had he not wavered between ambition and discretion, — the former even- tually winning. He met death with dignity and said " May my blood be the last spilt for the welfare of the country. ' ' During all of these years Juarez maintained a semblance of authority and kept a cabinet un- der appointment although he was finally driven to the American border. Yet he could wait, for he had inherited from his dusky ancestors the qualities of patience, endurance and imper- turbability. He also had executive ability and an abundance of good sense. After the execu- tion of Maximilian he made a triumphal entry into Mexico, The country was impoverished. The short empire had added a national debt of $187,000,000. More than one thousand battles and skirmishes had occurred between 1863 and 1867, and a hundred thousand Mexicans had been killed or disabled. The people were still restless and an increasing element began to say that he had been president long enough. He was unmoved, but kept steadily on his way try- ing to better the condition of the people, im- prove the finances and bring prosperity to his country. The iron constitution finally gave way and he died on the 19th of July, 1872, beloved 368 Mexico and Her People To-day and honoured by his country. He deserves to be called the Washington of Mexico, for the real liberty of a republican form of govern- ment began with him. He had prepared the way for his successors to bring peace, pros- perity and liberty to a country that for cen- turies had been groping and striving after such a condition. Juarez lies buried beneath a mag- nificent monument in the Panteon de San Fer- nando, in the City of Mexico. Upon the death of Juarez the constitutional succession to the chief magistracy fell upon Lerdo de Tejada, who occupied that office for four years. The subsequent history of Mex- ico, however, centres around the personality of Porfirio Diaz, and the events of his long admin- istration and final downfall are treated in the two following chapters. CHAPTER XX THE GUIDING HAND *' I SHOULD like to live fifty years to see the result of the seed I have planted, ' ' said Porfirio Diaz a number of years ago. It is not within the limit of human possibility that such a boon could be granted this amiable " republican despot " but he had lived long enough to see the good results of the policies established by him for the upbuilding of his country. Succeeding to a government that had been in the throes of revolution ever since the patriot- priest Hidalgo first proclaimed independence on the 16th of September, 1810, President Diaz at once restored peace to the country that has lasted for thirty years. Inheriting a bankrupt treasury from his predecessors, and a large foreign debt that had on several occasions brought about foreign intervention, he suc- ceeded in placing the finances of the country in a prosperous condition and has accomplished more for Mexico than had been done in three 369 370 Mexico and Her People To-day centuries of Spanisli rule. He organized the army along modern lines and established the rurales which insured the safety of life and property. Eailroads under the wise system of encouragement inaugurated by him have in- creased from three hundred and fifty miles to thirteen thousand five hundred miles ; telegraph lines from four thousand five hundred miles to thirty-five thousand miles ; the number of post- offices now number two thousand three hundred and fifty instead of seven hundred and twenty as it was in 1876. Imports and exports have doubled several times, and the annual balance sheet now shows a comfortable surplus instead of a deficit as in former days. All this has been done and old obligations met in spite of the serious loss in exchange due to the depreciation in silver, and the fact that the heavy foreign obligations had to be met in gold purchased with silver at a low and constantly varying valuation. The life of Porfirio Diaz is fascinating. It savours of the days of knighthood and romance. We are reminded of those heroes of old around whom time has cast a glamour, for he has had adventures as exciting, escapes as miraculous and a life seemingly as charmed as any hero created by the masters of romance, and his life may well be termed '' stranger than fiction." The Guiding Hand 371 Cue is naturally iuclined to be rather eulogistic in his treatment of such a character. The present President of Mexico was born in the city of Oaxaca in an uniniposing house on the Street of La Soledad, that is now used as a sugar factory, on the 15tli of September, 1830, a day already celebrated in Mexican annals. His father, Captain Jose Faustini Diaz, was of Spanish descent and followed the occupation of innkeeper, but died when Porfirio was only three years of age. His maternal grandmother was a Mixteca Indian. The church and law were the only two occupations open to an ambitious youth in those days, and this young lad was in- tended for the former. He chose the law much to the disgust of his relatives but never followed that calling. The fighting blood in him im- pelled hm to the sanguinary conflicts on the field rather than the bloodless battles in the courts between contending counsel. About this time the war with the United States broke out and the future president, a youth of seventeen, volunteered but saw no fighting, although he thus early in life showed his genius for organization by forming his fel- low-students of the academy into a battalion for the defence of his home city. Benito Juarez, afterwards president, was attracted by this 372 Mexico and Her People To-day youth, and invited him to read law in his office, which offer was accepted. Thus was begun an association between two men who were destined in later years to occupy such a promi- nent place in Mexican history. Through the in- fluence of Juarez, the younger man was made assistant librarian and by the aid of the salary attached to this position, and money earned as tutor, he completed his course, and received his law degree. Politics and war seem to have divided the attention of Diaz from the very first with a pref- erence for the latter in early life. Diaz was a military genius. I can say this in all serious- ness. Although he never commanded a large army yet, under his hajids, the rawest recruits soon became valuable troops. He is possessed of a personal magnetism and the quality of simpatica, (which can not be translated into English) that draws people to him and, when once aroused, they become his enthusiastic partisans. In a land of lethargy and procrasti- nation his movements were quick and decisive, and he soon became noted for night marches and early morning attacks. He never was overcome except by superior forces, and then only after his stores and ammunition were exhausted. Even when beaten and his army captured or The Guiding Hand 373 separated, a few days of freedom would again place him at the head of a respectable force ready to take aggressive stand against tlie enemy. Had he been in command of a hundred thousand men, he would have met the situation with the same tact and ability. The first of the many political offices held by Diaz was that of Jefe Politico, or mayor, of the little Indian town of Ixtlan when only twenty- five years of age. Here he devoted his time to organizing the Indians into a company of militia, and this little body of soldiers formed a nucleus that proved a great help to him in the troublous times which followed. Later he was made Jefe of Tehuantepec where he showed great administrative ability. Soon afterward, in 1861, he was elected a deputy to congress from Oaxaca, but at that time would not sacrifice the excitement of war for the more prosaic duties of law-making. Captain Diaz had seen his first military serv- ice in the revolts against the notorious Santa Anna, of Alamo fame. He had the courage to sign a remonstrance against this usurper, and was compelled to fly for his life. Later, in the campaigns against Santa Anna, he was so suc- cessful that he had become almost a hero in the eyes of his fellow Oaxacans. At the beginning 374 Mexico and Her People To-day of the French invasion, the rank of general of a brigade had been conferred upon him at the early age of thirty-two years, and he was as- signed to the defense of Puebla under General Zaragoza. It was due to his tactics more than anything else that the way was paved for the great victory of Cinco de Mayo, 1862, when an inferior force of Mexicans defeated a numer- ically larger army of veteran French troops. It was nearly a year later before the armies of the allied French and Austrians, greatly augmented by new arrivals, were able to capture Puebla after a two months' siege, the ammunition of the Mexicans had been exhausted. General Diaz refusal to give parol and was made prisoner but escaped after a short confinement. Because of the approach of the invading armies toward the capital. President Juarez had removed the seat of government to San Luis Potosi. He made General Diaz commander-in- chief of the armies south of the Valley of Mexico. Eeturning to his favourite haunts in Oaxaca, he soon gathered together an army and some money and marched forth on the offensive. By this time General Diaz had become such a formidable opponent that General Bazaine him- self, later of European fame, leader of the French forces, took the field against this young The G-uiding Hand 375 leader with tlie determination to crush him. He finally shut him up in Oaxaca and captured that city in 1865. The French general had carefully laid his plans for this campaign, having trans- ported a large number of guns, and was at the head of an army, Diaz claims, of sixteen thou- sand. The fame of this general and his large force created a panic among the troops of Diaz and his little army had dwindled to a few hun- dred. General Diaz was captured and taken to Puebla by his captors where he was prisoner for more than seven months in a former house of the Jesuits in that city. His escape is celebrated in Mexican annals, and his own account is as follows, although I have greatly abbreviated it: — ' ' After taps for silence had been sounded for the night, I went to a room which was roofless and which on that account was used as a yard. I had with me three ropes, wrapped up in canvas, and I threw them onto the roof. I also had another rope, and I succeeded in throwing it around a projecting stone spout which seemed to be sufficiently firm. When I had satisfied my- self that the support was sufficient, I climbed up by the rope to the roof. My progress along the roof to the corner of San Eoque street, where I had made up my mind to descend, was 376 Mexico and Her People To-day- attended with much danger, for on the roof of the church a detachment and sentries were sta- tioned to keep watch. Gliding on all-fours I made towards the point where I was to let my- self down. I often had to stop to feel my way, for the roof was strewn with many fragments of glass which sounded when touched. Moreover, there were frequent flashes of lightning^ which exposed me to being discovered. ' ' I finally reached the wall of the church. In order to arrive at the corner of the street of San Eoque it was necessary to pass through a por- tion of the edifice which was occupied by the priest in charge of the church, and I was aware that shortly before he had denounced to the court martial some political prisoners who had bored a hole through their place of confinement into his dwelling, and as a consequence they had been shot the next day. ' ' I let myself down into an upper yard of the priest's house at the moment when a young man who also lived there had come in from the street ; he had probably been to the theatre, for he was in gay humour and was humming an air from an operetta. He did not see me as he passed, and I remained quiet until he had entered his room. When I considered that sufficient time had elapsed for him to get into bed, and perhaps to The Guidin' :and 377 fall asleep, I climbed to tlio roof of the convent on the opposite side to that by which I had de- scended and pushed forward to the corner of the street of San Roque, and I arrived there at last. There is at the corner, in a niche, a statue of St. Vincent Ferrer which I proposed using to fix the rope by which I was to descend. The saint wobbled when touched, but probably there was inside the statue an iron spike to hold it. In any case, in order to be more sure, I adjusted the rope around the pedestal of the statue which seemed to be quite firm. I re- solved to alight in a vacant lot which adjoined and which was only fenced in. I did not know that there was a drove of hogs in this yard. As when I began the descent I turned somewhat with my rope, my back struck against the wall, and the impact caused a poniard which I car- ried at my waist to fall from its sheath among the hogs, probably wounding one of them, for they set up a grunting which grew louder as they saw me descending among them. I had to wait for, some time for them to quiet down. I then climbed to the top of the partition separat- ing the lot from the street, but I had at once to bob down again for just at that moment a gendarme was passing on his round, seeing if 378 Mexico aii ler People To-day the doors were wei --.stened. Wlien he had re- tired I sprang into t street. ' ' In a few days he ad rallied around him a few faithful followei ^ and captured the small garrison of Tehuitzin , >. From this time his career was a succession of victories until the capture and execution f Maximilian. These victories and the firm s^> id of the United States government re-establi i republican suprem- acy. Early in 1867 _ parations were made to regain Puebla whic ity was defended by a force of several thousand French troops. On April 2nd he made a feint with a few hundred men on the convent of '* El Carmen " which caused the army of the defenders to be con- centrated there. Then a concerted attack fol- lowed from several points, and the soldiers of Diaz drove back the hardened troops of the third Napoleon, and the flag of liberty waved over the city in the early dawn. He followed up the fleeing foreigners and a series of engage- ments followed in which Diaz was victorious. The war was ended by the capture of the City of Mexico after a siege of several assaults. From boyhood until the close of the empire in 1867, General Diaz had worked against great odds. He was by this time easily the most popular man in Mexico. One party at the gen- The Guidin^? "Sand 379 eral elections of that 3 ,r nominated him for president, but he re. sed to run against his old friend and patron^ resident Juarez. He even refused an office ar resigned his commis- sion in the army. In ^ .j/ch of rest he retired to the place of his birtlxpand his trip from the capital was a triumph^ journey. The citizens of Oaxaca received hit ^^j^ with open arms, and presented him with th>- ; ^tate of La Noria near that city. Hither he t-..qt with the wife whom he had married by pr., ^if during the war and spent a few years in -comparative quiet. In 1871 another presidential election was held. Juarez, who had failed both mentally and phys- ically, had advocated a number of unpopular measures, but was determined to have himself reelected to office. Diaz was also a candidate. When Juarez was declared elected, the " Por- firistas " declared a revolution with the slogan ' * less government and more liberty. ' ' However Juarez died in a few months and the executive power temporarily fell upon the president of the Supreme Court, Lerdo de Tejada, who was afterwards elected to that office to serve the un- expired term. General Diaz refused reconciliation with this government, and, fearing trouble before the next presidential election, for Lerdo was an 380 Mexico and Her People To-day active candidate, lie sold Ms estate and left for the United States after a "pronunciamento/^ called the ' ' Plan of Tuxtepec, ' ' had been issued to which he gave his allegiance, if he was not the author of it. This '' plan " declared a presi- dent ineligible to succeed himself. By the time the revolution was well underway in several states, General Diaz had crossed the Eio Grande at Brownsville, Texas, with forty followers. These forty men increased to four hundred in a few days and they captured Matamoros on April 2nd, 1876. Learning that a large force had been sent after him. General Diaz decided to return south. He went to New Orleans and took a steamer from there, called the City of Habana, sailing for Vera Cruz, and passed himself off as a Cuban doctor. He was not suspected until some of the troops he had captured at Matamoros a few weeks before got on board the ship at Tam- pico. They immediately made arrangements to secure him on arriving at Vera Cruz. Although the ship was four miles from land, Diaz jumped overboard and attempted to swim ashore. He was picked up after nightfall in an exhausted condition, and taken on board the ship again. However the purser was won to his cause and concealed him in a wardrobe, where he remained The Guiding Hand 381 for several days on a diet of ship's biscuit and water. The purser, as a matter of policy and in order to disarm all suspicion, invited the Lerdist officers into his cabin, where they would spend hours in playing at cards. Often- times the chair of the one sitting in front of the wardrobe would be tilted back against the door behind which was the man they would have given almost anything to catch. From his cramped position General Diaz was in torment. He could not stand upright, nor was he able to sit down. When the City of Habana arrived at Vera Cruz the chief of the coast guard serv- ice, who was the fugitive's friend, managed to smuggle in to him a dilapidated sailor's suit and a very old pair of boots. At the same time the chief sent word that a rowboat, in charge of a man he would recognize by certain signals, would come alongside for him. When the ship began to unload bales of cotton into barges, this boat appeared among them, and the noted prisoner made his escape to land. After several exciting adventures on the wa}^, General Diaz again appeared at Oaxaca among his friends and ardent supporters. His popu- larity and prestige in Oaxaca have always been remarkable. Never did he appeal to his neigh- bours and friends of that state in vain. It was 382 Mexico and Her People To-day not long until he was at the head of an army of four thousand ' ' Porfiristas ' ' — men who would follow their leader to the death if need be, and many of whom had fought with him at Puebla and elsewhere. The news of the escape of Diaz brought gloom to the '' Lerdistas." Lerdo immediately marched his army south- ward. The two armies met on the 16th of No- vember, 1876, at Tecoac, and for a few hours the battle waged hotly and bitterly. The Ler- dist army, which was considerably larger, be- gan the engagement with every prospect of success. At the last moment Diaz led a charge in person which routed the enemy, and the result was a complete triumph for the *' Por- firistas." Flushed with victory, and determined to press his advantage to the utmost, General Diaz promptly proceeded toward the capital with his augmented army. Panic seized Lerdo and his followers. He took all the public funds available, and, with his ministers, fled to Aca- pulco. Upon arriving there he embarked for San Francisco, and made no further effort to impede the progress of the Diaz forces. Igle- sias. President of the Supreme Court, upon whom the succession legally fell upon the death or resignation of the President, established The Guiding Hand 383 headquarters at Guanajuato and issued a proc- lamation assuming the office of chief executive. Diaz at once marched upon Puebla, which he entered without opposition. City after city sent representatives announcing their adher- ence to his cause. The onward march was con- tinued without a halt until Guadalupe, about three miles from the capital, was reached. Here he halted for a day in order to get his forces into presentable condition to make a triumphal entry into the historic capital. It was on the 24th of November, 1876, that General Diaz made his memorable march into the City of Mexico. Eiding at the head of an army of several thousand armed men he made a triumphal entry into that ancient capital, while thousands gathered along the route to see this new adventurer — as he was styled by his enemies. The Plaza was packed with the populace. This son of an innkeeper, this man with the blood of the Indian in his veins, this hero of many battles passed through the por- tal of the National Palace and became master of Mexico. From there he issued a proclama- tion assuming the provisional presidency of the republic, until an election could take place in regular form and a constitutional ruler should be chosen. This was held in December. 384 Mexico and Her People To-day With the government in his hands the result of that election was never in doubt. After a three months' campaign his authority was rec- ognized over the entire republic. Since that time Porfirio Diaz occupied that high office con- tinuously, except for an interval of four years from 1880 to 1884, when Manuel Gonzalez held that title, until May 25th, 1911, when he re- signed. Diaz himself became a victim of the '' Tuxtepec Plan," forbidding two consecutive terms, and gracefully retired at the end of his first term, although urged by a large following to remain at the head of the government. For the first time in Mexican history was seen the spectacle of one President voluntarily relin- quishing the sceptre to his successor, and re- turning to private life without an effort to retain himself in power. Gonzalez entered the office one of the most popular men in Mexico, having been elected by an almost unanimous vote. Four years later he left it under a cloud of almost universal execration and contempt. During the four years of Gonzalez's adminis- tration Diaz was not idle, but served in the cabinet, as governor of Oaxaca and senator from Morelas. Isolated disturbances have arisen at times, but no formidable opposition arose against him until 1910. This revolution The Guiding Hand 385 is treated in the succeeding chapter. The law limiting the snccession was revoked during his second term, and the length of office was sub- sequently extended to six years. At the vari- ous elections the reported vote was almost unanimous for Diaz. On December 1st, 1910, he was inaugurated President for the seventh consecutive term, or eighth term in all. Immediately upon iirst assuming the execu- tive office after the flight of Lerdo, Diaz issued a statement in which he set forth in clear terms his intention to restore constitutional order and institute reforms. He invited all factions and cliques to cooperate with him. This soon won the regard of the intelligent and honest partisans of all factions, and he early showed his impartiality by selecting his advisers irre- spective of party. It was not long until most of the Lerdistas and Juaristas were won to his cause. By this skilful handling of the leaders, he secured the good will of Congress in fur- thering his plans for reforms, and in organi- zing the finances on a better basis. New trea- ties were negotiated with foreign nations and able diplomatic representatives sent abroad. It has been said that the best peacemakers are those who have made war. Those who detest powder most are generally those who 386 Mexico and Her People To-day- have smelled it on the field of battle. To them — more than all others — are known the hor- rors and hardships of war, and what it entails upon the innocent and guilty alike. Even though a battle- scared hero may have profited by the advantages gained by military success, the tragedy of empty homes and nameless graves is known to and acknowledged by him. General Sherman said: '' The main thing is to deal as hard blows at the enemy's forces as possible, and then cause so much suffering to the inhabitants that they will long for peace." A similar belief animated President Diaz. He himself has said in explaining his actions in suppressing brigandage : * ' Sometimes we were harsh to the point of cruelty. But it was all necessary to the life and progress of the nation. If there was cruelty, the results have justified it. It was better that a little blood be shed that much blood be saved. The blood that was shed was bad blood ; the blood that was saved was good blood." Almost before they knew what was happening the professional malcon- tents found themselves in the grip of this mas- terful new leader. It was to this quality of firmness that he owed his pronounced success during the first years of his presidency. Several scattered uprisings occurred during The Guiding Hand 387 the first term, most of them being fostered by the '' Lerdistas. " Lerdo issued a proclama- tion on the 24th of Februarj^-, 1877, from New York, claiming to be the constitutional Presi- dent, and, a few months later, Iglesias did the same thing from New Orleans. Neither of these manifestos were looked upon seriously by the Mexicans, but they were in a great measure responsible for the tardy recognition of the Diaz government by the United States and other foreign powers. One revolt is worthy of mention because of its novelty. A part of the crew of the armed vessel Trinidad mutinied during the absence of the commander at Vera Oruz. They headed for a Campeche port, where they seized several thousand dol- lars of public funds. While the leaders of the mutiny were ashore enjoying the money, a counter mutiny was led by the boatswain, who took the ship back to Vera Cruz and returned it to the government. Judging this man at a distance, we, who live in a country where even a third term is a " bogie," are inclined to smile at these suc- cessive elections to the presidency, and dismiss the matter with the charge of " dictator " and '' republican despot," with all the odium that those terms imply. President Diaz was both. 388 Mexico and Her People To-day But, above all, he was, I believe, a true patriot. Whatever may have been his original motives in seeking this high office his later actions prove the statement. Responsibility will often develop a man, and that may have been true with Diaz. In securing the control by driving out Lerdo, and assuming the provisional pres- idency over Iglesias, who was the official desig- nated by the constitution in case of a vacancy, he only did what many had done before. Whether his retention of the office for so long was a good or bad thing for the country, the historian of the future will be a better judge. The accomplishments of Diaz were many. It would require a long enumeration to give them in detail. The very fact that he suc- ceeded to a government which had seen fifty- four different rulers, including two emperors and a number of avowed dictators, in the fifty- five years preceding his own accession, and ruled the country for more than a generation, is in itself sufficient to stamp him as an ex- traordinary man. Those were indeed troub- lous times in Mexico while we were celebrating the centennial of our independence. The strong spirit of Juarez had been broken by the long strain from 1857 to 1872, during which time he was nominally President. His succes- The Guiding Hand 389 sor was a weak, ambitious man who accom- plished little. Disorder everywhere, the coun- try overrun with bandits and a worse than empty treasury were the conditions when Diaz grasped the reins. It was not until nearly two years afterward that his government was form- ally recognized by the United States. Few men could have steered the country through such a state of affairs so successfully. He did it without repudiating any valid claims. He established credit by paying foreign obliga- tions rather than the salaries of government employees. He surrounded himself witb an able cabinet, and started the machinery of gov- ernment in a bnsiness-like way. I do not subscribe to the doctrine of Shake- speare that all the world is a stage, and that each person is a player, for that would take away sincerity. Porfirio Diaz has been ac- cused of only acting a part. He could not always be acting, for his course was too con- sistent nnder many and diverse circumstances. As a young man he refused pay for military services because the government was so poor. He declined promotion over the heads of men older in the service for fear of jealousies. He refused remuneration after the close of the war of intervention, although not a rich man at that 390 Mexico and Her People To-day time. He turned a deaf ear to the emissaries of Maximilian, who wanted to place him in command of the Mexican army when that ruler abdicated, which would practically have made him President. He was a humane adversary, as is shown by his treatment of prisoners of war. He disregarded ceremony as much as is possible in a Latin country. He declined to live in the National Palace, but resided in a private house the most of the time, and at Chapultepec a part of the year. It is not to be wondered at that the man who rules with a strong arm will make bitter ene- mies as well as warm partisans. Likewise such a policy will always have its defamers as well as its supporters. Opinion is still divided upon Napoleon, and whether his high-handed methods wrought more good than evil. Hence it is that some can see nothing in Diaz but a tyrant, an enslaver of his people, and a man unfit for even life itself. They forget that peonage was not originated by Diaz, but was inherited from the Spaniards and supported by the voters of the country. They do not look into the conditions faced by Diaz when he first became President, nor the bloody history of the republic before that time. I believe that Diaz would have been permitted to serve his The Guiding Hand 391 term had it not been for his efforts to control the vice-presidency, and the fact that his choice fell upon a man who was very unpopu- lar. Knowing that at his age the President's span of life was uncertain, the politicians wanted to control this office because of the succession. For this reason discontent and jealousies had been growing for several years. Diaz had publicly declared his intention not to seek another term, so that those ambitious for that office took him at his word and began their wire-pulling. This was in February, 1908. Then, in the spring of 1910, he announced that yielding to importunity he would accept an- other term. This was the one great mistake in his political career. Had Diaz adhered to his previous declaration, he would have retired from the office of chief executive full of hon- ours. As it is he resigned under pressure, and left the City of Mexico unannounced and ac- companied only by his family and a few friends. He boarded a steamer in the harbour of Vera Cruz and sailed for Spain, where he has quietly resided since that time. The personality of this dictator-president, who has filled such an important place in the world's history, is most interesting. As I sat in the great salon of the National Palace, 392 Mexico and Her People To-day- awaiting the appearance of President Diaz, I spent the intervening fifteen or twenty minutes in examining the room. On the high walls were pictures of Greneral Washington, the father of liberty in the whole of the two Amer- icas; of the patriot-priest Hidalgo, who first raised the standard of revolt in Mexico, and of Diaz himself. Then Diaz appeared — a man tall for a Mexican, solidly built, with white closely cropped hair and white moustache. He approached with an elastic, graceful and springy step entirely belying his almost eighty years. The Indian blood could easily be traced in his complexion and features. The most striking feature of this man is his eyes, which seem to look into the very soul of all he meets. It is probably this intuitive perception that has been one of the key-notes of his success. He has always been a democratic sort of man and easy of approach, and impresses his sin- cerity on all those who talk with him. Diaz was always a tireless worker and methodical in his habits. He is abstemious, and it is prob- ably due to this characteristic and his method- ical habits, that at eighty years of age he re- mained as active and energetic as the average man twenty years younger. He kept in touch with the most remote parts of the republic, The Guiding Hand 393 even to the most distant village. His advisers were often surprised at the vast knowledge he displayed in all matters of state. The private life of Diaz has always been above reproach. He has been twice married. His first wife was Delfina Ortega y Reyes, who died in 1880 be- fore sharing in the full greatness of her hus- band, leaving a son and two daughters, all of whom are still living. Three years later he was married to a daughter of Romero Rubio, whose full name is Senora Dona Carmen Ro- mero Rubio de Diaz. She is a woman who by her sweetness of character, kindly disposition and charities won a warm place in the affec- tions of the Mexican people. The end of the political career of Diaz is not without a touch of pathos, as well as an element of personal dignity. Broken in health, and deserted by many of his former friends, he resigned the office of President in the fol- lowing letter addressed to Congress: — " Senokes: The Mexican people, who have generously covered me with honours, who pro- claimed me as their leader during the interna- tional war, who patriotically assisted me in all works undertaken to develop industry and the commerce of the republic, to establish its 394 Mexico and Her People To-day- credit, gain for it the respect of the world and obtain for it an honourable position in the con- cert of the nations; that same people has re- volted in armed military bands, stating that my presence in the exercise of the supreme executive power was the cause of this insurrec- tion. '' I do not know of any facts imputable to me which could have caused this social phe- nomenon; but acknowledging as possible, though not admitting, that I may be unwit- tingly culpable, such a possibility makes me the least able to reason out and decide my own culpability. '' Therefore, respecting, as I always have respected, the will of the people and in accord- ance with Article 82 of the Federal Constitu- tion, I come before the supreme representa- tives of the nation in order to resign, unre- servedly, the office of Constitutional President of the republic with which the national vote honoured me, which I do with all the more reason, since in order to continue in office it would be necessary to shed Mexican blood, en- dangering the credit of the country, dissipa- ting its wealth, exhausting its resources and exposing its policy to international complica- tions. The Guiding Hand 395 '' I hope, seiiores, that, when the passions which are inherent to all revolutions have been calmed, a more conscientious and justified study will bring out in the national mind a cor- rect acknowledgment, which will allow me to die carrying engraved in my soul a just im- pression of the estimation of my life, which throughout I have devoted and will devote to my countrymen. ** With all respect, *' PoKFiRio Diaz." CHAPTER XXI THE EEVOLUTION OF 1910 The year 1910 marked the completion of one hundred years of Mexican independence. In September of that year this event was cele- brated with all the pomp and pageantry cus- tomary in Latin countries. Nearly the whole month was given up to public functions in various parts of the republic, and especially in the City of Mexico, the national capital. Representatives of all the great nations of the world were sent there to assist in the cere- monies incident to the celebration. Dedica- tions of public buildings, magnificent balls, public fetes and exercises commemorative of independence and of the national heroes, who led the struggle against the Spaniards, were numerous. The 15th and the 16th of Septem- ber were the great gala days of this centennial anniversary. The further fact that added lus- tre to the event was the eightieth anniversary of the birth of President Diaz, who had estab- 396 The Revolution of 1910 397 lished a substantial government after the many years of strife through which the country had passed between the years 1810 and 1876. In all the speeches made by foreign representa- tives the great work of this man was extolled, as well as the progress that had been made by the nation itself. The culmination of the centennial ceremonies was on the night of the 15th, just a little while before midnight. By half past ten o'clock the immense Plaza, which faces the National Pal- ace, was filled with an immense crowd of Mex- ican dignitaries, distinguished foreigners and the population of the city. It was a mass of living, breathing, expectant humanity. The many coloured lights formed veritable rain- bows of colour, and this added an additional attraction to the teeming, seething crowd. The door leading to the central balcony on the front of the National Palace opened, and President Diaz appeared. An intense stillness fell upon the crowd. In his right hand the President carried the national flag of Mexico, and imme- diately on his appearance the red, white and green lamps (the national colours) surround- ing the old bell with which Hidalgo first sounded the call to liberty, and which has found a permanent resting place here, flashed 398 Mexico and Her People To-day into a radiant glow. As the strains of the national anthem floated out on the breeze, the President waved his flag, rang the bell and shouted ' ^ Viva Mexico ! " The great crowd went wild with excitement. The cry of ' ' Viva Mexico! " was taken up by the crowd near to the President, and then by those farther away, until the great shout might have been heard all over the capital. The bells of the grand old cathedral pealed forth their loudest tones, the factory whistles shrieked, sky-rockets were sent up in the air and every noise-making de- vice was turned loose. Pandemonium reigned. ' ' Viva Diaz ! ' ' and ' ' Viva el Presidente ! " were mingled with the cry of " Viva Mexico! " In the light of later events this wonderful celebration seems to have been a sham, or at least only on the surface. At that time a polit- ical volcano was simmering all over the repub- lic, and was just ready to break forth into vio- lent eruption. Diaz had already been re-elected for the eighth term, but the inauguration was not to take place until the fifth of December. In November the first outbreaks against the civil authorities occurred. An abortive rising occurred in Puebla in which blood was shed. Armed bodies appeared in the states of Chi- huahua and Sonora, in the northwestern part The Revolution of 1910 399 of the republic. These bodies attacked the outlying haciendas, robbed the owners of horses and foraged at will to secure supplies for them- selves and their horses. The country in which these outbreaks occurred is ideal for the gue- rilla warfare that followed. Both of those states are mountainous and thinly settled, so that it was comparatively easy for even a small band of armed men to make a great deal of trouble and escape from a much larger force that might attempt to pursue them. Government troops were promptly dispatched to the scene of trouble, but it was difficult to catch up with the marauders and engage them in battle. Their outbreaks would first be heard of in one neighbourhood, and a few days later reports of trouble would be received from sec- tions quite remote. Additional armed bodies appeared in other sections, and it was not many weeks until the trouble began to present a seri- ous aspect. Many of the government troops sent against the insurrectos were either cow- ardly or were in secret sympathy with those opposed to the government. "Wlienever actual engagements did occur the outcome was gen- erally in favour of the Federal troops, but the defeated ones were always able to escape into the country, where it was difficult for them to 400 Mexico and Her People To-day- be followed. The first battle of any note was fought at Mai Paso, when the Federals were routed, but a battle at Ojinaga a few days later was a decided defeat for the revolutionists. The failure of the government to^ stamp out the trouble promptly gave encouragement to all the disaffected ones, and the old spirit of lawlessness that once prevailed seemed about to break forth with all its animus and disre- gard of the rights of private property. The predominant figures among the insur- rectos were the Maderos, a wealthy family that owned great estates near the city of Torreon. In the presidential campaign that had just passed, Francisco Madero had been a candi- date for the presidency. He was thrown into prison, as that family asserted, simply because he dared to oppose the dictator who had held power for so long. The reason given out by the government was, of course, far different. Nevertheless all the disaffected factions of the republic rallied around this family, which did the principal financing of the revolutionists. A propaganda was conducted in the United States by the Maderos, and they obtained a great deal of encouragement from the majority of the newspapers of the United States, which had recently taken a position extremely antag- The Revolution of 1910 401 ouistic to the Diaz government. Francisco Madero established a revolutionary junta in El Paso, and large quantities of ammunition were sent across the border. A warrant for his arrest having been issued because of vio- lation of the neutrality laws, Madero with a handful of follo.wers crossed into Chihuahua and entered actively into the campaign. *' No re-election " and " effective suffrage " were the two catch-words of Madero. It was very similar to that of Porfirio Diaz when he swept everything before him. At no time were there, according to the best reports that can be obtained, more than a few thousand men en- rolled under the Madero banner. These troops were scattered throughout northern Mexico, from Ciudad Juarez to the Pacific Ocean. Into their ranks were drawn many soldiers of fortune from the United States, as well as from Europe. A part of these men were no doubt really patriotic in their motives, while others simply grasped the chance of engaging in an exciting campaign because of the freedom of action which was offered, and also partly be- cause of the rewards that were promised by those at the head of the revolution. An eye- witness of the engagement at Tia Juana says that not over ten per cent, of the insurreetos 402 Mexico and Her People To-day who captured that town were Mexicans, the remainder being made up of Americans, in- cluding some negroes, Germans, English and other nationalities. This engagement occurred on May 8th and 9th, 1911. The Federals threw up breastworks of bags of sand, and the women and children were sent out of town to the American side. The fighting was severe and many were killed on both sides. On the second day the government forces yielded, and the rebels immediately pillaged the town and stores. Most of the engagements took place at towns near the border, at Ciudad Juarez, Nogales and Douglass, as well as Tia Juana. Two reasons were probably responsible for this fact. One was that it gave the insurrectos, in case they were defeated, an easy escape across the border, and another was that they were anx- ious to capture the custom-houses in order to secure the revenue from that source. This would also enable them to set up a de facto government, which might secure for them rec- ognition from countries that looked upon them with favour. Because of these fights on the border, and the reckless shooting by the com- batants, no fewer than twenty citizens of the United States were killed and twice that num- The Revolution of 1910 403 ber wounded upon the American side, including men, women and children, none of whom had taken any part in the conflict. The camps of the Maderistas at all times contained numer- ous American correspondents, and the reports of the majority of them were favourable to the cause of that faction. The battle of Casas "Grandes was all but decisive. In this engage- ment Madero took part and was slightly wounded, while the opposing leader lost an arm. But Madero was soon in the field again at the head of his forces. The movement had likewise spread, and the government faced trouble in the country even as far south as the Isthmus of Tehuantepec. The aim of the Maderistas was to secure rec- ognition as belligerents from the government of the United States, and it was also the desire of the government to put down the insurrection in order to prevent action by the United States to suppress the trouble because of the com- plaint of many Americans whose property had been destroyed, or was in danger of destruc- tion. Eailroad tracks were torn up, mines were tampered with and much other interfer- ence with the property of foreigners followed. European governments did not dare to interfere because of the Monroe Doctrine, and pressure 404 Mexico and Her People To-day- was brought upon the government at Washing- ton to restore order. On May 8th there was great excitement in the United States follow- ing orders issued by the Department of War for the mobilization of American troops along the Mexican border. Almost twenty thousand troops were sent to Texas and centralized at San Antonio. From there they were sent to various places along the international border, but with positive instruction to take no part in the trouble on the other side of the Eio Grande. The press looked upon this action as preliminary to armed intervention, but no such result followed. This movement of troops was no doubt actuated by the motive of showing what the United States could do, and of im- pressing both sides to the conflict that foreign property must be left undisturbed and the rights of neutral parties carefully observed. Several attempts were made by the Made- ristas to capture Ciudad Juarez, the prosper- ous city directly opposite El Paso. The Fed- eral troops in the city were under the command of General Navarro, while the insur rectos in the final siege were commanded by Gen. Pas- cual Orozco. After a battle of several days, including considerable street fighting, General Navarro surrendered his command of fifteen The Revolution of 1910 405 hundred men to General Orozco on the 10th of May. Shortly after this Madero himself en- tered the city as victor, and immediately set up a provisional government, giving himself the title of Provisional President. This gave the insurrectos control of the important custom house at Ciudad Juarez, and was a great vic- tory for their cause. "On to Mexico " then became the popular cry, and preparations be- gan to be made for that long march. Torreon had fallen, and Pachuca, only forty miles from the capital, had been taken possession of by the revolutionists. Chihuahua and a number of other cities were besieged by them. At this stage Diaz and his advisers asked for an armistice in order that negotiations might be conducted. Each side appointed commis- sioners, and efforts were made to agree upon terms for settling the trouble into which the country had been plunged. The Maderistas refused to consider any terms which did not involve the resignation of President Diaz, Vice-President Corral and the entire cabinet. President Diaz, in order to avoid further blood- shed, the outcome of which would be very un- certain, finally acceded to these terms and agreed to resign before the end of the month. His resignation was delayed, however, for 406 Mexico and Her People To-day- some time, and disorder again broke out in several places. Even in the Gity of Mexico mobs formed, and practically took possession of the city on the 24th and 25th of May. Be- fore the close of the latter day President Diaz handed in his resignation, as the Vice-Presi- dent had previously done, and the government was turned over to Francisco de la Barra, who had been agreed upon as the Provisional Pres- ident until a new executive could be chosen at a special election. President Diaz secretly left the City of Mexico, and embarked on a vessel at Vera Cruz for Europe. A new cabinet was selected by Acting-President Barra, the major- ity of whom were suggested by Francisco Ma- dero. A wiser selection than Dr. de la Barra it would have been difficult to make for such a troublesome position. He had represented Mexico at Washington just prior to the troub- les of his country, and commanded great re- spect among the officials in that city. With the downfall of Diaz the real troubles of the Maderistas began. It is almost always true that the victorious are impatient to secure the fruits of their victory. Extravagant prom- ises had been made by the leaders of the rev- olution, which included free land, lower taxes, higher wages and a decreased cost of living. The Revolution of 1910 407 It was impossible for the leaders to do these things at once, as it would take several years to work out such a program. Although Fran- cisco Madero held no office, he had been desig- nated as an adviser of the new government, and no appointments were made by the Provi- sional President without his approval. This brought about jealousies among the ambitious leaders, and there has been more or less fight- ing in various sections of the republic in which much blood has been shed. A few gen- erals deserted the standards of Madero and have kept up fighting on their own account. A serious outbreak occurred in the city of Puebla in which many were killed. Many political parties followed, as it had been many years since there was a definite party organization in Mexico. Some of these were very small, being made up simply of factional groups. The Church party again became prominent and started to take an active part in the approach- ing election. Bernardo Reyes, who had been sent on a mission to Europe by Diaz in order to get him out of the country, returned, and a strong party known as the Reyesistas arose and wanted to nominate him for the presidency. He left the country, however, before the final elections, claiming to be in fear of his life. 408 Mexico and Her People To-day This voluntary expatriation of General Reyes on September 28tli, when, disguised as an in- valid, lie walked up the gang-plank of a steamer at Vera Cruz, bound for New York, removed the only obstacle in the path of Sr. Madero. The election, which was held on Sunday, Oc- tober 1st, 1911, was as peaceful as such an event could be in most parts of Mexico. It does not necessarily mean that they were not inclined to fight, but there was nothing to fight about. The result was that the electors chosen were almost unanimous for Francisco Madero. To an American this election would seem almost farcical. For the purpose of the elec- tion the country was divided into districts, with one presidential elector for every five hundred inhabitants. Before election day two officials were appointed in each district. One of these officials compiled a list of the voters in his little subdivision. When he had looked up the voters in his district, and the names were printed and posted on some convenient street corner, this official's duties ended. Any one whose name did not appear on the printed list had a right to go to the proper authorities and state his case. All those qualified to vote received a ballot on which they were to write the names of the electors they wished to vote The Revolution of 1910 409 for. The second official appointed took charge of the election booth on the morning of the election, and these booths were generally placed at the entrance to business houses or even in the parks. The voting places were supposed to open at 9 o'clock. The first seven voters who appeared, with the one commissioner ap- pointed, constituted the election board. In American cities one could imagine a great rush of voters to be among the first seven, but in many of the Mexican booths that number did not arrive until half an hour or an hour after the time the booth was supposed to open. The commissioner in charge sat at the table with a list of the voters beside him, and, as the voters appeared, they indicated the names of the electors for whom they wished to vote, and the commissioner then communicated this in- formation to the other members of the board in an audible voice. As a general rule there was no closed ballot box, but the ballots were merely laid in an open pasteboard box with a paper- weight on top to hold them down. Of secrecy or an attempt at secrecy there was none. Some citizens sent their wives to vote for them with the information that they themselves were in- disposed, and these ballots were accepted. It is claimed that the peons generally abstained 410 Mexico and Her People To-day from voting, partly because of pride because they were not able to write, but more likely because of indifference since they had never been allowed such a privilege before. The only real contest in the election was over the choice of a Vice-President. Dr. Vasquez Gomez, who had been the principal aid of Sr. Madero in the revolution, had been cast aside by him in favour of Jose Maria Pino Suarez. The cause of the disagreement between these two leaders of the revolution was in part over the name of the party. Dr. Gomez insisted upon the original name of the revolutionist party, which was Anti-reelectionista, while Sr. Madero decided upon the name of Constitu- tional Progressive. Dr. Gomez continued as a candidate under the name chosen by him. Many also voted for the Acting-President, although he was not an active candidate. Other names of parties with tickets in the field were Pure Liberal Party, Eed Liberals, Evolutionist Party and Reyesistas. An active campaign was carried on by several of the candidates, and Senor Madero visited many of the states in a speaking tour. Everywhere he was re- ceived with respect and at many times with real enthusiasm. Soldiers were present at the voting booths in many places on election day C'ourte-y of the Bulletin of the Pan-Ameriran Union. SR. DON FRANCISCO I. MADERO. The Revolution of 1910 411 to prevent trouble, but there was very little disturbance in any part of the country. On the 6th of November, 1911, Francisco Indalecio Madero was inaugurated President of Mexico with elaborate ceremonies, and Pino Suarez was inducted into the office of Vice- President. The new chief executive of the re- public was born on the Hacienda del Eosario, in the state of Coahuila, on the 4th of October, 1873, and is still a young man. He is the eldest of a family of thirteen children, and both of his parents are members of wealthy land-owning families. It is estimated that the revolution cost the Maderos more than a million dollars, but they could well afford it. He married Seiiorita Sara Perez, the daughter of a prominent Mexi- can, in 1900. For several years President Madero has been the leader of the opposition in the republic. His appearance is not that of a leader, for the new President is barely five feet four in height and weighs less than one hundred thirty-five pounds. His figure is slight, with small hands and feet, and he wears a full beard. By way of preparing for his campaign Madero wrote a book entitled '' The Presidential Succession in 1910," which created such a tremendous sensation that it was finally suppressed by the Diaz government. It was a 412 Mexico and Her People To-day- fearless arraignment of what lie considered to be the evils of that administraticui. On June 7th, 1910, he was arrested at Monterey and imprisoned for several weeks, not being re- leased until after the election had been held. It was then that he published his political plat- form known as the '' Plan of San Luis Potosi," which was issued from that city on the 5th of October. Among the reforms advocated by him were a more equitable distribution of the lands of the republic, free restitution of lands wrested from the Yaquis and a return of that tribe to their native state, and an abolition of the practice of admitting malefactors into the national army. It is impossible to predict the outcome of the Madero administration. If the people stand by him many needed reforms may be accomplished. The main difficulty to be over- come will be that personalism enters so much into Mexican politics. If parties backed by real and genuine principles and not dependent for their strength upon a single personality, shall arise, then peaceful conditions will return and President Madero will be permitted to work out his program. He showed himself humane and considerate during the revolution, although he did not distinguish himself espe- The Revolution of 1910 413 cially as a strategist or military leader. He broke all precedents in yielding the provisional presidency to Dr. de la Barra, instead of seiz- ing that office himself as he might easily have done. In his speeches he has counselled mod- eration among his followers. He has a difficult task before him, but it is the hope of the writer that he will not disappoint those who have raised him to power. President Madero has been accused of being anti-American in his sympathies. As an an- swer to this I quote from an authorized state- ment by him in an American newspaper : '' I am glad at this time to have the oppor- tunity to assure the American people of my great friendship and regard for them, and to assure them that I will do all in my power during my administration to strengthen still more the already strong friendly relations ex- isting between the two nations. I feel very sure that during my administration the bonds which unite the sister republic will become far stronger than they have ever been. I am a great admirer of the American people, for I went to school in the United States and I have travelled much in your country. I will wel- come Americans to Mexico at all times. I want to see American energy, American brains and 414 Mexic o and Her People To-day American capital come to this country and assist in its development and progress, and Americans will always find a friend in me and my government." CHAPTER XXII THE SIEKKAS AND BEYOND' '^ Las Madres," says tlie Mexican, whenever he is asked the name of the lofty range of mountains that runs through the western part of the northern half of Mexico, and which sep- arate the lofty interior plateaus from the Pa- cific Ocean and the Gulf of California. This range of mountains effectually cuts off the west coast from the best developed part of Mexico, and for that reason this section is not so well known as those parts which are visited by trav- ellers. At the present time no railway has been completed across this range of mountains, but it will not be long until this disadvantage will exist no longer. This district includes the great states of Sonora and Sinaloa, the terri- tory of Tepic, and a large part of the states of Chihuahua and Durango. To-day it is al- most a counterpart of what California was before the gold rush of 1849 — little known, isolated and undeveloped — but with just as 415 416 Mexico and Her People To-day- great natural advantages. Dense jungles cover the lower levels along the coast, where water is plentiful, while great areas in the north are semi-arid. In the higher altitudes vast for- ests of pine and oak crown the serrated peaks. The population is generally sparse and scat- tered. In the future the main gateways to reach this part of the country from the United States will be El Paso, and Benson, Arizona. From El Paso it is a distance of a little more than two hundred miles to Chihuahua. The travel- ler has no sooner crossed the Rio Grande than the change is seen in the Mexican town of Ciu- dad Juarez, formerly Paso del Norte. This city was the objective point of the revolution- ists in the late trouble in that country, and was the scene of a great deal of fighting before it was finally captured. After its capture it was the seat of the temporary government of the Maderistas. For several hours on the journey southward there is nothing to be seen but the chaparral and desolate-looking hills, with just enough novelty in the little towns that may be passed to make the trip strange and rather old-fashioned. Big-hatted, shiftless peons stare at you from their leaning positions against the station walls. The ' ' hee-haw " of a lone burro The Sierras and Beyond 417 or the "' cough " of a gasoline engine will be the only sounds to break the silence. The train rolls along through a narrow val- ley which is quite level, and with high table- lands all about. Then the route reaches the land of haciendas, where herds of cattle, sheep and goats may be seen. It is a land of deep valleys, with glimpses of majestic mountains, and sometimes with broad spreading plains as well, but the mountains are always in view. At length, after a ride of a little more than half a day, the train reaches Chihuahua, which is the principal city and metropolis of this section of Mexico. Chihuahua is not a very beautiful city; nor is it as attractive as many of the other Mexican cities, for its location and the climate are not such as can greatly be rec- ommended. It is destined to be a much larger city than at present, however, by reason of the mineral wealth surrounding it, and also be- cause it is the starting point for what will ulti- mately be the principal trade route between the United States and northwestern Mexico. Like Monterey this city has become very much Americanized, and that influence is noticeable in both people and architecture. Chihuahua is on the line of the Kansas City, Mexico and Orient Railway, which, when com- 418 Mexico and Her People To-day pleted, will form a direct route from Kansas City, Missouri, to Topolobampo, a new port on the Pacific. At the present time trains are run- ning from Wichita, Kansas, almost to the Mex- ican border, and two detached sections are in operation in the Eepublic of Mexico. One of these starts from a point near the Rio Grande and runs to Chihuahua. From Chihuahua westward this railroad, in conjunction with the Mexican Northwestern Eailway, traverses one of the finest grazing sections of the republic. Broad prairies which are covered with grass stretch out on either side to the foothills, and form rich grazing lands. The vast ranges, the temperate climate and a fair average rainfall makes this almost an ideal country for cattle. Upon them are fattened the beef that feeds the country, and many animals find their way to the markets of the United States. It is a region of immense haciendas, which form almost em- pires in themselves, for they are larger than some of the principalities of Europe. One estate near Chihuahua would make a common- wealth as large as the states of Massachusetts and Ehode Island combined, with a small farm of a million acres besides. The Zuloaga family own a hacienda directly on this line of railway, which is thirty-five miles wide and nearly one ■.'■ ■ '>^ ; ■ ■ *^ i^ .. K . ufci The Sierras and Beyond 419 hundred miles long, and includes about two million acres. Most of this estate consists of fine grazing land, and it ships about forty thou- sand head of cattle each year, as well as from three to six thousand mules and horses. A few years ago the late proprietor of this estate bought an adjoining farm for two hundred thousand dollars, and his method of paying for it is a good illustration of Mexican business methods. He secured silver coin for this amount, which weighed nearly six tons, and hauled it over to the seller in two great carts. The buildings of the Zuloaga hacienda, which I visited, lie about fifty miles west of Chihua- hua, in one of the most beautiful locations that could be found anywhere. They are near the foot of a range of low mountains, and in front projects out a plain that gently slopes down to a lake a couple of miles distant. Beyond the lake is another range of wooded hills which seem to complete the picture. Within the walls are the home of the hacendado , the church, the stables and a store. The church is a beautiful structure, artistic in its details, and all of the materials used in its construction were secured upon the plantation; and all of the work, in- cluding some magnificently carved woodwork and some creditable paintings, was done on the 420 Mexico and Her People To-day premises and by those living there. The build- ings are all one-storied in height, with walls thick enough to withstand any earthquake. The rooms are large and airy, with extremely high ceilings, through which you might drive a carriage, and the parlours are nearly as large as public halls. More than three thousand peons are employed on this hacienda, most of whom live in buildings arranged in hig hollow squares just outside of the walls of the family's quarters. There are a number of small towns along this transcontinental line of railway, the prin- cipal of which is Minaca, a quaint little old- fashioned place. The inhabitants would rather attend a chicken fight than work or go to mass. From Minaca this road begins the real climb over the divide on its way to the Pacific coast. For scenic beauty it equals any railroad in Mexico, not excepting the ride over the Mexi- can railway from the City of Mexico to Vera Cruz, hitherto described. Deep cuts, high hills, and tunnels succeed each other, as the railroad climbs up on its way toward the line of perpetual snow. It passes through one of the best timber sections of Mexico, where tall pine trees, straight as an arrow, rise up for a hundred feet or more without a limb. Huge The Sierras and Beyond 421 crags of fantastic outline, tall pines silhouetted against the low-hanging clouds and the mys- terious depths of the barrancas combine to form scenes of awe-inspiring grandeur. At dangerous points crosses on the trail tell the story of tragedies — of riders who have prob- ably stumbled into eternity without a moment's warning. This Sierra region of Mexico should appeal to the sportsman, for much game abounds. At nearly all elevations may be found the white- tail deer. The mountain lion, called tigre, lurks in the fastnesses of the mountains. The bear may be found wherever there are good feeding grounds. The wild turkey is plentiful in many sections. The Mexicans do not hunt much, so that there are many game birds. Quail are numerous in the foothills, and wild duck, snipe and curlew are exceedingly numer- ous on the lagunas and marshes of the coast, as well as in the lakes of the mountain region. Hunting is inexpensive, and it is strange that more Americans do not visit this unhunted re- gion. One of the strangest of the many tribes of Mexican Indians inhabit the valleys and bar- rancas of this part of the republic. These are the Tarahumaris, a timid race who rather 422 Mexico and Her People To-day shrink from contact with the white people to any greater extent than is necessary. Occa- sionally these Indians may be seen on the streets of Chihuahua, whither they go to buy some things, or, perhaps, to carry a message for a Mexican or American. But they do not linger any longer than is necessary. They can always be distinguished from the other Indians because the men almost invariably have their legs absolutely bare in all kinds of weather. They also wear their hair long, and it hangs down over the shoulder like our red men, while the Mexican Indians usually wear their hair short. Their features are coarse, but their bearing has a kind of native dignity about it that attracts. One of their medicine men once cut his hair to get some new ideas. While the new hair was growing he kept his head tied up to prevent his thoughts from escaping. I mention this to give an idea of the primitive- ness and simplicity of these strange people. The Tarahumaris pay no taxes or tribute to the Mexican government. They are quiet and inoffensive, however, and for that reason they are allowed to inhabit the mountain slopes and inhospitable barrancas in peace. Their houses are very simple. They are usually made by setting up forked poles across which other The Sierras and Beyond 423 straight poles are laid, and then roughly-hewed boards are set up along the sides. Sometimes they are made entirely of small rocks. Many of them live in the natural caves which abound in that region, and of which I have seen scores. They are nomadic and change their domicile frequently, although the new location may be only a few hundred rods away from the old. Store-houses may be seen in which the family stores its surplus supply of corn and beans, which are the only food supplies cultivated by these people. , Upon the mountains the men kill deer and squirrels, and these, together with fish, rats and little ground animals which abound in that region, constitute their principal meat supply. The Tarahumaris are not a sociable people, nor are they industrious, for they like too well to lie on their backs or breasts in the hot sun. They are great runners and have been known to run day after day, stopping only to eat and secure some necessary sleep. When they are travelling across the country one will seldom see them walking. Even on a mountain trail they usually keep up a trot. I have seen them running up a steep path where most of us would not want to walk very long without stopping to rest. The chief men of the tribes carry 424 Mexico and Her People To-day canes as their emblem of autliority. If a man is charged with an offence a messenger is sent to him, armed with a cane made of red Brazil wood, and the person summoned would not dare to disobey the order. No writ issued by any court in a civilized land commands greater obedience. It is generally the older men who are entrusted with this badge of authority, and they are very jealous of the privilege. This method of designating authority is quite com- mon among the aborigines of the Americas. The Tarahumaris are very superstitious. They are afraid to travel after night because the dead are supposed to be abroad at that time. The shaman, as the medicine man is called, is a man of great importance among these super- stitious people. He is always present at all family celebrations, such as weddings and fu- nerals, and he is generally called in when there is sickness in the family. About one hundred and fifty miles southwest of El Paso, in the state of Chihuahua, is a col- onf of considerable interest to Americans. After travelling that number of miles of semi- desert land over the Rio Grrande and Sierra Madre Railway from Ciudad Juarez, as dreary a landscape as one could imagine, the appear- ance suddenly changes as one approaches the The Sierras and Beyond 425 lauds of the Mormon colony that has settled here. Fearful of the results of the anti-polyg- amy agitation in the United States a few hun- dred followers of Brigham Young banded to- gether, and sought a new " promised land." They travelled in caravans that contained all their worldly goods until they crossed the bor- der into Mexico. Here they were welcomed, for farmers are what northern Mexico needed, and religious or ethical questions did not dis- turb the Mexican government. The colonists were exempted from taxes for ten years, and their implements were allowed free entry. Each colonist was granted a certain number of acres at low interest and on easy terms. The original colony has expanded into sev- eral settlements numbering more than five thou- sand persons. The principal colony is named Colonia Juarez, and it is a few miles from the station of Casas Grandes. The Mormons are splendid agriculturalists, and they sell large quantities of alfalfa, grains, potatoes and dairy products. They use the very latest of Ameri- can agricultural machinery on their farms. Every village has a graded school supported by a voluntary tax, and a large central academy is also maintained for higher education. They are devout followers of the Mormon prophets, 426 Mexico and Her People To-day — these colonists across the Rio Grande, — al- though they claim that no open polygamy is practised. Each man will deny the possession of more than one wife. The excess of women with families over the men, however, and the fact that the Mormon man is thoroughly at home in more than one house would easily lead one to a different conclusion. To this must be added the knowledge that these Mormons left good homes in Utah for a tract of almost desert land in Mexico, mainly because of the efforts of the government of the United States to stamp out plural marriages. The other main route to the Sierra regions is an extension of the Southern Pacific Rail- road, which is known as the Sonora Railway. This railroad extends from Nogales, and it is destined to run to the city of Guadalajara, a distance of about eleven hundred miles. No- gales is a city of about three thousand inhab- itants, half of which lies on either side of the border line. A simple glance without any ex- planation would show the visitor which part of it belongs to the United States, because of the difference in the buildings and the energy of the inhabitants. From there the railroad runs south through Magdalena and across some fer- tile plains until, at a distance of almost three The Sierras and Beyond 427 huudred miles from the border, it reaches Her- mosillo, the capital of the state of Sonora, which is the second largest state in the republic. Much of this state is useless for agriculture, as it is dry and arid, and a part is very mountain- ous. In other sections the soil is extremely fertile, and irrigation would render it inval- uable. Such projects could be carried out if there was as much enterprise on that side of the border as on the northern side. Near the Yaqui Eiver the soil and climate are as well adapted to fruit culture as southern Califor- nia. There are many large mining enterprises, the largest being at Cananea, and nearly all are American enterprises. The trouble with the Yaqui Indians has greatly hindered devel- opment in Sonora during the past decade. Sev- eral parties of American prospectors and mi- ners were attacked and a number of Americans killed. The government finally deported thou- sands of the Yaquis to other sections of the republic, and their depredations then ceased. Hermosillo is situated on the Sonora River, in the midst of an agricultural district and sur- rounded by rugged mountains, where there are many mines of gold and silver. It is the seat of a Catholic diocese, for which a fine new cathedral has been built, and also has some 428 Mexico and Her People To-day very creditable buildings. It is a city of per- haps ten or twelve thousand people, and is the largest city in the state. From Hermosillo this railroad runs to the port of Guaymas, which is quite an important commercial town, and less than a hundred miles from the capital. The Bay of Guaymas is one of the best on the Pa- cific coast, and the marine trade is quite im- portant. For a long time this town was the terminus of this railroad, but it is too far up the Gulf of California to ever become a very important ocean port. Within the last few years construction work has been rapidly pushed southward at a little distance from the coast, and through trains are now running as far as the city of Tepic, on the way to Guada- lajara. Not a great distance south of Guaymas the Sonora Railroad enters Sinaloa, a state nearly as large as Indiana. This state is destined to be a great agricultural state, as it is well wa- tered and contains a number of fine rivers. Besides the Fuerte, Sinaloa, Culiacan and Elota Rivers, there are a hundred or more smaller streams traversing it. It stretches along the Pacific coast for a distance of nearly four hundred miles, and has an average breadth of eighty miles. One-half of the state The Sierras and Beyond 429 is little known, and is traversed only by ob- scure and difficult trails. Cane and corn cul- ture have been the chief industry, but it offers good inducements for the raising of almost all kinds of grains. In undeveloped natural wealth, both agricultural and mineral, and in its splendid water powers, Sinaloa is unsur- passed by any Mexican commonwealth. An American land company has recently opened up a tract of two million acres, and is estab- lishing a colony that promises good results. The capital is Culiacan, a short distance from the coast. Heretofore the only outlet for this city of fifteen thousand has been a miserable railroad to its port, Altata, but the new line enables passengers to go by Pullman cars to all points in the United States. It is an old city, for the Spaniards found a considerable settlement there. They immediately estab- lished a town which was well fortified. The present city is quite attractive and possesses a little manufacturing. It is the residence seat of quite a colony of rich and cultured Mexi- cans, and a number of Americans interested in mining also reside there. Mazatlan, a little further down the coast, is the largest city and principal port of Sinaloa. It is a picturesque place, with its cathedral 430 Mexico and Her People To-day- spires outlined against the sky, and cocoanut palms and thatched roofs below. The blue Cordilleras in the distance complete the pic- ture. A lighthouse at the north entrance is said to be the highest lighthouse in the world, with the exception of the one at Gibraltar. It is a city of about twenty thousand inhabitants, and the largest city on the Pacific coast. Al- though a great deal of shipping is done in Mazatlan, the harbour is poor and offers no protection to vessels. Plans have been ap- proved for a safe harbour, to cost several mil- lion pesos, in order to prepare it for the antici- pated increase in business. "Whether the in- ternal troubles will stop the building of this much-needed west coast railroad improvement remains to be seen. Its completion will not only give an outlet for this rich region to the United States, but also to the City of Mexico, and- the stimulus can already be seen wherever the railroad is in operation. There is not a richer section in the whole republic than these coast lands, but because of their isolation every- thing has been backward, and all work has been done in the very crudest and most primi- tive ways. The only development that has taken place is in mining, and most of the mines are even yet operated in the old-fash- The Sierras and Beyond 431 ioued ways, because of the difficulty of trans- porting machinery and fuel. The territory of Tepic is almost as large as the states of Massachusetts and Connecticut combined. In natural resources it will com- pare with Sinaloa, for it is well watered and affords fine opportunities for agriculture. Some day the jungles will be transformed into orange groves and banana plantations, while the higher lands will produce rich harvests of grain and coffee. The water power could be utilized to turn the wheels of factories or to run the railroads which are so much needed. The capital city of Tepic, a municipality of fifteen thousand people, has been asleep, but will now be awakened daily by the noise of the locomotive. At an elevation of three thousand feet the air is fresh and invigorating. The climate is pronounced almost ideal by those who live there, and it is free from the fevers that prevail in the low coast lands. It does not differ in general appearance from many other Mexican cities, but is a quaint and inter- esting town. Separated from the mainland of Mexico by the Gulf of California and the Colorado Eiver, lies that little known territory of Baja (lower) California. It is a long narrow peninsula that 432 Mexico and Her People To-day projects about eight hundred miles southeast- erly from the southern border of California. Its width varies from about thirty to over one hundred miles, with an irregular coast line over two thousand miles long bordered by nu- merous islands, and in size is a trifle larger than the state of Iowa. Lower California is mainly mountainous, with irregular plains along the Pacific coast, and smaller plains and valleys along the north coast and in some parts of the interior. In climatic and other physical features the northern part of the peninsula is very similar to southern California, with some local modifications. The southern end of the Colorado Desert crosses the border, and con- tinues down along the northern coast for some distance. Along the Pacific coast a low range of mountains recedes a short distance inland, and continues for some distance. In the south- ern part of the peninsula they become higher, forming the San Pedro Martir Mountains, which reach a height of oVer ten thousand feet above the sea. Vast desolate plateaus of black lava, which surround little gem-like valleys, are succeeded by extensive stretches of desert upon which nothing but the cactus will grow. The western coast is bathed by cool waters and fogs, while the eastern shores are washed The Sierras and Beyond 433 by the waves of a warm inland sea, and have almost continuous sunshine. Lower California was one of the early dis- coveries of the Spaniards, and was promptly placed in charge of the Jesuits, whose mission- aries were quite successful. They explored all parts of the peninsula and established mis- sions among the Indians, and at the same time introduced many of the crops and fruits of the Old World. They established three main trails throughout the leng-th of the peninsula, one following each coast and the other running near the centre. These roads are to-day the only routes of travel, and, except for short distances, can only be pursued on mule-back. Most of the Indians who formerly inhabited the peninsula have disappeared, and the pop- ulation to-day is very small. Some of the old mission churches are still in use, while others are represented simply by fragments of ruined walls and choked-up irrigating ditches. Agriculture has never flourished to any great extent in Lower California. Numerous colo- nies have been practically failures, with the exception of some recent ones near the inter- national border, where water for irrigation has been obtained from the Colorado Elver. All of the peninsula has been traversed many times 434 Mexico and Her People To-day by prospectors in search, of gold, silver and other minerals, and a number of valuable mines have been located in various places. The general climate is hot and arid, as is evi- denced by the vegetation, although in the south- ern regions there are districts which have regular summer rains. As a consequence of the arid conditions the surface water is scarce, and is limited to isolated waterfalls or to springs from which small streams sometime flow for a short distance, and then sink into the earth. The country is divided for administration into the northern and southern portions, with Ensenada, a small port on the west coast as the capital of the northern part, and La Paz, on the eastern coast, the capital of the southern portion. La Paz is the only city of any par- ticular size, and is a place of about six thou- sand people. The streets are well laid out, and there are some excellent stores and many comfortable houses. The gardens are filled with palms and various tropical trees, so that the city has quite a decided tropical appear- ance, although it is surrounded by an arid dis- trict. It is the seat of the pearl fisheries, which are quite flourishing in the Gulf, and the out- put of pearls is quite an important item. Tia The Sierras and Beyond 435 Juana (Aunt Jaue) is a small town on the border not far from San Diego, and it is, per- haps, better known than any other town on the peninsula. Several skirmishes took place within its borders during the recent revolu- tion led by Madero, and many of the partici- pants were Americans. Magdalena Bay, concerning which there has been considerable talk of the United States trying to secure as a coaling station, is the finest land-locked harbour on the Pacific coast, with a narrow entrance which is protected by the high headlands. The bay is about fifteen miles across, with low sandy shores, and would furnish a fine protection for scores of the largest vessels. It is also within sight of the regular sailing route of steamers bound for Panama. For that reason it would be a very advantageous possession of the United States, if it could be obtained by negotiations with the Mexican government. The plant life of Lower California is differ- ent from that of any other part of the world — so naturalists say. There is a veritable riot of strange forms of cacti and other plants which manage to live without rainfall. The cacti vary from giant forms, which raise their massive fluted trunks to a height of fifty to 436 Mexico and Her People To-day- sixty feet, to little straggling species which are too weak to stand upright. Another peculiar form is the creeping devil cactus, as it is called, which has the appearance of gigantic caterpil- lars crawling in every direction. These plants do actually travel away from a common centre, as the stem sends down rootlets every little distance, and then the older stems in the rear die about as fast as it advances in the front. There are not many species of birds or ani- mals, and only such kinds as can live where water is scarce will be found. It is said that some animals have been found that never drink water, and even in captivity can not be taught to drink, as it does not seem necessary to their existence. " Owing to its desert character the peninsula is very thinly peopled, and there are extensive sections where not a single inhabitant will be found. The most populous section is that south of La Paz, where the rains are more regular. A few small towns or villages will be found scattered around the coast, with a lim- ited number of prospectors and miners gath- ered in the interior. The effort to colonize Lower California has been a tale of unbroken failure for more than fifty years. A few rainy years will cause apparent prosperity, but the The Sierras and Beyond 437 succeeding j-ears may be rainless and disaster follows. Those who have studied Lower Cali- fornia say that it is not all a hopeless desert, but that there are possibilities of agriculture through irrigation in many parts. CHAPTEE XXIII THE RUINED CITIES OE YUCATAN The Mayas (pronounced My-yali) were an ancient people of whom little is known. They dwelt on the broad plains of Yucatan and Cen- tral America, and built many cities, or govern- mental centres, for no ruins of private dwell- ings have yet been found. The groups of buildings resemble in no way our cities of the present day. They consist everywhere of temples and palaces of the reigning princes or caciques, of public buildings scattered about apparently at random, covering a vast area, with cemented roads and gardens intervening. The centres of the towns were occupied by the public squares and temples ; around these were the palaces of the priests and lords, and the outskirts were evidently allotted to the lower classes. Religion and government seem to have gone hand in hand among these primi- tive Mexicans. The Maya civilization had reached a height unexcelled by any people of 438 The Ruined Cities of Yucatan 439 the western hemisphere prior to the coming of the white man. They were skilled in architec- ture, in sculpture and in writing. The priests had developed the science of astronomy to a considerable extent. They had studied with some success the solar system. They had de- veloped a calendar system and created a chro- nolog}^ So far as these chronological ac- counts have been worked out they run back three thousand years or more. They reckoned time much as we do, from a fixed date, namely, the birth of Christ. The later dates of the Quirigua inscriptions are generally believed to be somewhere about the beginning of the Chris- tian era. The oldest of the ruins of the Maya race is said to be that of Copan, which is situated in Honduras, just across the border from Guate- mala. It also seems to have been the southern- most point of their migration, as Tula was the northerly terminus of their wanderings. Then comes Quirigua, in Guatemala, which is one of the most remarkable and inexplicable of all the ruins. Tradition sheds no light whatever on these ruins of Copan or Quirigua. The mysterious silence that surrounds these forms a void in the history of the human race. There are doubtless other ruins awaiting the trav- 440 Mexico and Her People To-day eller and explorer in the wilderness around Lake Peten, in the northern part of Guatemala. The founder of the race was Izamat-Ul. " To him were brought," says an old writer, '' the sick, the halt and the dead, and he healed and restored them all to life by the touch of his hand." Hence he was generally known as the Miraculous Hand, and in inscriptions is fre- quently represented by a hand only. In the extreme southeastern part of Mexico, on a small peninsula known as Yucatan, is a section which was at one time the abode of this progressive and migrating race known gen- erally among anthropologists as the Mayas. This distant province deserves far more men- tion than it usually receives from passing trav- ellers. Though possessing few natural attrac- tions Yucatan is a never-ending source of interest for the anthropologist and archeolo- gist. The whole peninsula is a vast limestone formation, with little or no surface water. Rain is infrequent in most parts, and one might travel for miles without crossing a river or brook, or even chancing upon a spring. In most sections of this peninsula the water is at least seventy feet below the surface of the ground. At the present time windmills aid the inhabitants of that section where the hene- The Ruined Cities of Yucatan 441 quen, from which binder twine is made, is raised, but centuries ago such facilities were unknown. There were, however, in some places natural wells which reached down to the depth of what seem to be underground rivers, and it was near these that several ancient cities were located. At least a score of these ancient cities have been explored, of which the best known and most important are Palenque, Ux- mal and Chichen Itza. It is known that since the Spaniards first set foot on this peninsula many monuments and practically entire cities have disai3peared. At one time, a contempo- rary writer asserts, there were destroyed in Yucatan five thousand idols of various forms and dimensions, thirteen huge stones which were used as altars, twenty-two smaller stones of various shapes, one hundred and ninety- seven manuscripts of all kinds, including twenty-seven written on deer skins. Chichen Itza, which is generally interpreted to mean ' ' the mouth of the wells of the Itzas, ' ' seems to have been the leading city, and it was located near two of the largest natural wells, which are inunense natural pits with perpen- dicular sides. It is probable that these phe- nomena attracted the Mayas in their northern migration. As the tribes quarrelled different 442 Mexico and Her People To-day- factions separated from the original body and established new cities as capitals. Thus Chi- chen Itza came into being. On this desolate soil, "... buried 'mid trees, Upspringing there for sunless centuries, Behold a royal city, vast and lone, Lost to each race, to all the world unknown, Like famed Pompeii, 'neath her lava bed. At every step some palace meets the eye. Some figure frowns, some temple courts the sky." Before Cortez landed on Mexican soil the star of these ancient peoples had already set. Their oldest cities had their birth so far back in the twilight of time that not even tradition was able to tell the history of the tribes, the causes that led to their decay or the time of their disaster. Some traditions were told to the Spaniards, but they are of such uncertain origin that very little credence can be placed in them. Upon the walls are sculptures which speak to us in an unknown language; hiero- glyphics, and the chiselled types of a people long since departed. The hieroglyphics would prob- ably explain all, but no interpreting key has yet been discovered to give an explanation to the writings. Some authorities assert, how- The Ruined Cities of Yucatan 443 ever, that Cliiclieu Itza was inhabited at the time of the Conquest. A Spaniard by the name of Aquilar was wrecked on this coast and lived with a powerful cacique for several years, but he left behind him no written memoirs. At any rate, it is known that the Spanish forces occupied this place for at least two years. At first the submission of the natives was com- plete, but after a time they rallied from their stupor, tiring of ministering to the insatiable wants of their conquerors, and much severe fighting followed. Of the two great wells at Chichen Itza one was used for the general water supply, the cenote grande, and the other was reserved for religious use exclusively, the cenote sacra. Picturesque indeed must have been the throngs of white-robed women who peopled the steps of the cenote grande at all hours of the day to fetch water for household purposes. They probably carried double-handled urns on their hips or shoulders just as their descendants do at this present day. From far and near all over Yucatan pilgrimages were made to the sacred well, which, was on the outskirts of the city, just as pilgrimages are made to-day to holy shrines by Catholics and Mohammedans. It was this that gave the city its holy charac- 444 Mexico and Her People To-day ter. Offerings of many kinds were made to the deities. It is said that in time of drouth offerings of precious stones and other valua- bles were thrown into it, and in specially pro- tracted cases human beings were thrown into it as sacrifices. Even after the time of the Spanish conquest there are recorded instances of pilgrimages to the sacred well for the pur- pose of sacrificing slaves to relieve a drouth. These victims were supposed to live even after they had disappeared beneath the sa- cred waters. A Spanish writer of the time asserts that this was done as late as 1560. The Chichen Itza of the olden times, filled with pilgrims from far and near, would scarcely be recognized in the place of to-day. The jungle has gradually crept its way into the very holy of holies. Columns have been overthrown, and some of the structures have been almost lost in a tangle of thorns and creepers. Even in the last half century the destruction and disintegration has been very noticeable. To reach the place it is necessary to ride about fifteen miles over a rough and wearisome road. All around lie buried in thick jungle ruins of palaces and other buildings. Pyramid-like structures seem to have been one The Ruined Cities of Yucatan 445 of the favourite forms of building. The most imposing of these on this site rises sixty-eight feet above the plain, and each side is almost one hundred and seventy-five feet in length, the whole covering about an acre of ground. This structure is called the Castillo, although it was really a temple. It is made up of nine terraces of faced masonry, narrowing toward the top, each one elaborately panelled to re- lieve the monotony. On each side there is a broad stairway, with a flight of ninety steps, with stone balustrades, which are generally carved to represent reptiles. A stone building almost forty feet square crowns the summit. The northern facade must have been very striking before time and the destroying hand of man wrought their work. There were no doors on any of the buildings, and no traces of hinges have been found. At the western base of the pyramid is the walk that leads to the sacred well. It is believed that on the top of this pyramid the sacred rites of the priests of their faith were performed, and it is said that the sacrificial victims were led down these' stairways, then along the causeway and finally cast into the sacred well. It is easy for the imagination to picture the scene in all its splendour of white-robed priests, smoking cen- 446 Mexico and Her People To-day sors, and — saddest of all — the victims be- decked with garlands of flowers. There are ruins of colonnades, courts, build- ings and other structures of which many col- umns are standing at Chichen Itza, and it has been called " the city of a thousand columns " by some writers. One of the most important monuments is the Nun's Palace, as it is called. It is not so large as others, but contains a greater number of apartments. It is said to have been the custom of these people to edu- cate girls of noble birth to the service of the gods, on their attaining the age of twelve or thirteen. Their service was similar to that of the Vestal Virgins, although the vows were not always perpetual. It was their duty to keep the altar supplied with fresh flowers and to sweep the temples. One group of structures is called the Ball Court, as it is believed to have been used for a game similar to the mod- ern basket ball. It consists of two perpendic- ular parallel walls from north to south thirty- two feet high, three hundred and twenty-five feet long and one hundred and thirteen feet apart. The ends of this quadrangle are each occupied by a small temple. In the centre of each wall, about fifteen feet from the ground, there are two stone discs with holes through The Ruined Cities of Yucatan 447 the centre, which seem to have had a part in this or some other game. The vast propor- tions of this court, or tlachtle, would seem to indicate that this game was very popular with the Yucatecos. Some of the well preserved ruins present beautiful sculptured fagades, to which names have been given because of the fancied resemblance to something. For in- stance, one has been called the ruins of the '' House of the Tigers," because of a frieze of stalking tigers divided by richly fringed shells ; another round building, known as El Caracol, '' The Snail," is the best preserved building at Chichen ; ' ' The Red House, ' ' and the ' ' House of the Dark Writing," are still other struc- tures. In all directions for several miles the bush is strewn with ruins. Crumbling walls and courts overgrown with jungle growth are encountered on every side, but because of the disintegration these once splendid palaces and temples are now little more than shapeless masses of crumbled masonry. The human fig- ures seen on these monuments have the usual types of the Toltec carvings on the plateaus of Mexico. The total area covered by these ruins has been estimated by some investigators as higli as ten square miles. The next largest and most interesting city 448 Mexico and Her People To-day of ruins is known as Uxmal, which was the capital of the Tutal Xiu branch of the Mayas. This city is located between low ranges of hills, perhaps one hundred miles from Chichen Itza. When seen from an eminence a dozen or more imposing structures of white limestone are presented to view. This city, no doubt, sup- plied a very important part in the early his- tory of Yucatan — at least if one is to judge from its size. It is believed that this was the original city of the Toltecs. A dozen or more imposing structures of considerable size still stand here that can be identified, in addition to the large numbers of ruins which can scarcely be outlined. The most notable sanc- tuary of Uxmal, which is now known as the " House of the Dwarf," is over fifty feet high, and also surmounts a steep-sloped pyramid one hundred feet in height. Two stairways on opposite sides lead to this building. It is so named because the natives say it was built by a savage dwarf in a single night. Long after the city was abandoned this temple was held in especial veneration. The Spanish priests used to find offerings of cocoa and copal on it, and they attributed this to devil worship. Two lines of parallel walls, parts of which are still standing, enclose a court or The Ruined Cities of Yucatan 449 quadrangle, which is similar to the Ball Court at Chichen. The group of buildings around it encloses more than one hundred rooms. All of the buildings seem to have been built ^on low platforms or terraces. There is also at this place a high terrace, or platform, that covers over three acres of ground, and on which is a second and a third terrace, upon the latter of which is the ruin of a building known as the Governor's Palace. This building is one of the finest samples of early American architec- ture still extant. It stands at an elevation of forty-four feet above the plains, and com- mands a splendid view of the city. Its exterior walls are decorated with sculptured masonry, in the making of which it is estimated there are upward of twenty thousand sculptured pieces of stone. The building is three hundred and twenty-two feet long, and is divided into three parts by two arcades which pass clear through. It is built entirely of stone without ornament to a height of ten feet, then comes a cornice, above which is a wall that is a be- wildering maze of beautiful sculpture. This frieze has a row of colossal heads, and is di- vided into panels which are alternately filled with grecques in high relief, and diamond or lattice work. All the lintels of the building 450 Mexico and Her People To-day here are of wood in an excellent state of pres- ervation. At Uxmal there is a building called the '' House of Turtles," because of a row of turtles used as ornaments in the upper cornice. It is the freest from ornamentation of any of the structures. The turtles are found sculp- tured at various places along the cornice. The " House of the Pigeons " is the name of an- other building, because of the fancied resem- blance to a dove-cote. The crest of the roof is perforated with many rectangular openings — but the resemblance for which the name is given is very fanciful. At this site there were none of the natural wells described at the other city, but these people constructed some natural reservoirs a short distance from the town in which the rainfall was collected, and which gave the necessary water supply for the people. Furthermore, some of the buildings seem to have had subterranean cisterns of large size under them. Heavy rainfall occurs here for about one-half the year, but during the other half there is practically no rainfall, and water becomes very scarce and valuable. The so- called " House of the Nuns " is the largest building and bears the richest and most intri- cate carving at Uxmal. It is composed of four The Ruined Cities of Yucatan 451 buildings, the largest of which is two hundred and seventy-nine feet in length. The four buildings enclose a great court, with sides two hundred and fourteen and two hundred and fifty-eight feet in length, the entrance to which is through a high triangular-arched gateway. This building originally contained no less than eighty-eight apartments of various sizes. A number of writers believe that many of these buildings at Uxmal are comparatively recent, because of the appearance of the stone and the well-preserved character of the wood used in the construction. These structures are only a part of the ruins that still remain, for the jungle on either side hides the remains of what were once imposing buildings. Many of these have been literally torn asunder by trees, whose roots have forced themselves between the stones and pried them apart. No doubt this city once housed many thousands of people, but to-day it is without inhabitants. The pomp and glory of former times have disappeared; and all is silent save for the birds that nest in the trees and bushes. The third city of ruins, Palenque, is situated at a considerable distance south and west of the two just described, and not far from San Juan Bautista. Palenque, according to Char- 452 Mexico and Her People To-day ney, was a holy city — a place for pilgrimage. In the carvings neither sword, spear, shield nor arrow appear. The representations are all of peaceful subjects, usually a personage stand- ing with a sceptre and with prostrated acolytes at his feet. From the expression one would judge that they were worshippers, and not slaves or captives. Their expression is always peaceful and serene and that of worshippers and believers. The city is built in the form of an amphitheatre, on the lowest slope of the lofty Cordilleras beyond. Its high position affords a magnificent view over the forest- covered plain below stretching as far as the sea. In all the structures the builder levelled out the ground in narrow terraces, on which artificial elevations of pyramidal forms were reared, and the hillside was faced with hewed stones. At Palenque there are in all ten build- ings in view, each one crowning an elevation artificially made. As one enters the grounds there are several buildings to the right and left, but directly in front are the remains of the Palace. At one time this building has been very large and imposing. Eemains of a broad flight of steps that led to the imposing entrance corridor are in plain evidence. Flights of steps led down to the first patio, which was sur- The Ruined Cities of Yucatan 453 rounded by lofty corridors with roofs of pointed arches and which led into small apart- ments. There were two of these patios in the Palace of irregular size. Double galleries which made a sort of cloister surrounded them. Gloomy entrances from these corridors lead to underground chambers, where there are tables which are called altars, beds and dining tables by different writers. A lack of system seems to prevail in the building of the Palace. On top of one of the walls two immense forest trees are now growing. In the central portion are the ruins of a tower, of which three stories are still standing, with many windows. It is a square tower ornamented to the north with pointed niches ; otherwise it is almost devoid of ornamentation. On the contrary the galleries are richly ornamented with medallions, prob- ably representing priests and priestesses. Many human figures are sculptured in low relief representing priests with mitres on their heads and in uncomfortable attitudes. The faces are oftentimes defaced in order to give an appear- ance of ferocity. Some of the figures of the deities are fantastic, monstrous and even ter- rible. The Temple of Inscriptions stands on a hill about fifty feet high. A magnificent view of 454 Mexico and Her People To-day- all the ruins is afforded by this elevation, as well as the broad table-lands surrounding. There are three large mural tablets covered with picture writing and hieroglyphs, supposed to be copies of the laws of these ancient people, in the building. Across a little valley over which an aqueduct leads the land rises in ter- races, and is surmounted with artificially made hills on which are the ruins of more buildings — two Temples of the Cross and the Temple of the Sun. The Temple of the Sun is almost perfectly preserved. The interior is one large room with a sanctuary at one end. In each of these are mural tablets which contain what is known as the Cross of Palenque. The cruci- form shape, such as the swastika and other forms, is not uncommon among aboriginal peo- ple, but this is what is known as the Latin cross. Whether this arose by chance through the invention of the artist, or the cross had some religious significance among these people, still remains an absolute mystery. Charney asserts that it is one of the symbols of Tlaloa, the god of rain, but other writers differ with him. The body of the cross, which rests on a hideous head, is sculptured in the centre, and at the upper end are two human figures. On one there is an inscription of sixty-eight char- The Ruined Cities of Yucatan 455 aeters, which doubtless explain the ceremony represented by the sculpture. Again it is sur- mounted by the sacred bird of the Mayas, the quetzal. In another this place is taken by a representation of the sun with its spreading rays. Where did the Mayas get their idea of the cross so sacred among Christian people? No one has yet been able to answer this ques- tion satisfactorily. Who built these structures? For what pur- pose were they reared? Various are the theo- ries, and many are the speculations covering them. But authentic information is absolutely wanting, and the passing years shed little light. The modern Yucatecos are an attractive people. No people in the world are pleasanter or have more delightful manners than they. The young women have a winning grace and charm that is peculiarly their own. Their cos- tume is not greatly unlike that of the Tehuanas — and it is fully as unique and becoming. It is quite probable that their customs and char- acteristics have not changed much since the Spanish occupation. They have always been an independent people, and have caused much more trouble than the majority of the aborig- inal tribes of Mexico. CHAPTEE XXIV THE PRESENT AND THE FUTURE The old-fashioned Don, accustomed to ox- carts, wooden ploughs, and a horde of men ready to serve him, no doubt views with dis- may the changes being wrought by steam and electricity. The younger generation' has been educated abroad, or in the States, and rather welcomes the innovations. The spirit of revo- lution and political unrest that prevailed for the first sixty years of the republic has less- ened, even if it has not entirely passed away. Education and immigration have worked won- ders in the country; and, above all, the estab- lishment of a government that for almost a third of a century commanded obedience at home and respect abroad is responsible for the mutation in Mexico. It was an absolute repub- lic and under a strong controlling hand. It was the family government applied to the state, for it was very paternal in its rule. Mexico is a human country and is not with- out its faults. The greatest of these are, how- 456 The Present and the Future 457 ever, the result of conditions for which the present generation of nation-builders are not responsible. A transformation can not be wrought in a decade, nor in a generation. And yet the real accomplishments of the past twenty-five years in Mexico are marvellous. Americans who have lived there during that time wax eloquent in describing the great change for the better. "Whereas formerly peo- ple hesitated to invest money for fear of polit- ical changes, investments in that country are now looked upon as safe, and Mexican securi- ties are given a fixed value on the bourses of the world. Modern luxuries and conveniences are being introduced everywhere. The people are sim- ply installing in a hurry the things that other countries have been acquiring for the half of a century. Every city is bestirring herself, and electric light plants, modern sewerage systems and water works are being constructed as rapidly as things can move in this land of pTocrastination. Old and crude methods of power are being replaced by up-to-date ma- chinery in mines and manufactures. Electric railways are replacing the mule tram lines, and the merry hum of the trolley is fast succeeding the bray of the long-eared motor just men- 458 Mexico and Her People To-day tioned. Mexico lagged behind so long that she has had quite a distance to go, and it will be a long while before she can entirely catch up with the head of the procession. Material wealth is increasing. Better wages are paid, and the surplus is being expended for more and better goods. The wants of the great bulk of the people are so few, that it must be a long time before there will be a great change in their method of living; but their children are being educated, and that in itself works won- ders in their uplifting. For more than twenty years the finances of the government have shown a surplus. What a contrast to all the years of the republic be- fore that time. In 1876 the total revenue of the government was but $19,000,000 silver. For the fiscal year ending June 30th, 1910, this had increased to $53,164,242 United States gold. From a yearly deficit a surplus has been evolved which annually amounts to several million dollars. The total cash in the treasury at the date of the above report amounted to $37,042,857 gold. This statement shows a healthy condition of affairs. The government now finds willing buyers for its bonds, and all its obligations have been met promptly for a number of years. The Present and the Future 459 Finance Minister Limantour, who held that position for many years, proved himself to be a Napoleon of finance, and his reputation ex- tended to every financial centre in the world. Establishing the gold standard was a great achievement. Just a few years ago Mexican silver varied from $2.05 to $2.40 for a gold dol- lar, and all business was unsettled as a result. Now the government has established a rate of exchange of two silver dollars for one of gold, and all this was done without any friction or disturbance. It is to be hoped that the new administration will maintain the same high standard of financial integrity that has been handed down by its immediate predecessor. The foreign trade of Mexico runs into big figures. The total extra-territorial trade of the republic for the year ending June 30th, 1910, amounted to $227,456,025 in United States gold. Of this amount $130,023,135 rep- resented exports and $97,432,890, imports. Of the exports $78,260,037 were of mineral prod- ucts, while vegetable products were less than half that amount. An analysis of the imports shows by far the largest items were included under manufactured articles, such as machin- ery, textiles, chemical products, etc. Arms and explosives imported exceeded a million and a 460 Mexico and Her People To-day iialf dollars in value, thus showing that the government and people were even then pre- paring for the struggle to follow. By far the largest proportion of exports and imports was with the United States. Imports from the United States amounted to the tidy sum of $56,421,551, an increase of twelve million dol- lars over the preceding year, and the exports to the United States were $98,432,859, an in- crease of almost an equal amount. The United Kingdom is the nearest competitor in the for- eign trade with our neighbouring republic. "While the imports from the United States showed an increase of twenty-four per cent, over the preceding year, the increase from the United Kingdom and Germany was only twelve and eighteen per cent, respectively. Imports from the mother country, Spain, were less than three per cent, of the whole. In the matter of trade, as is shown by the trade statistics, the United States is easily the predominant factor. The proximity of the country has probably been the cause of this, as it has led Americans to investigate the nat- ural resources and invest money in railroads, mines, public works and many other enter- prises. The same influence can be seen in the banking interests. There are a number of very The Present and the Future 461 strong banks iu Mexico, of which the Banco Nacional, or National Bank of Mexico, is the most influential. This bank was established in ISSl, at a time when the financial condition of the country was anything but prosperous, and its growth has been continuous and at times almost phenomenal. This bank and one other are the only institutions that have the privilege of issuing bank notes in the Federal District, although some banks in other parts of the country have the same privilege. The Bank of London and Mexico, originally a British concern, but now owned by French capital, ranks next in importance, although it is very closely followed by the United States Banking Company, an American enterprise with a num- ber of branches throughout the republic. There are many other banks, some of them under the banking laws of the republic, and others pri- vate enterprises, which gives Mexico very good facilities for the transaction of all kinds of banking and commercial business. In 1893 there were only eight banks in the entire re- public, but now there are more than sixty. They have a circulation of nearly $100,000,000, and a capital in excess of that sum. The Amer- ican influence, and the banks controlled by Americans, have aided greatly in the develop- 462 Mexico and Her People To-day ment of business between the two countries, and it is the writer's belief that similar estab- lishments throughout the rest of Latin Amer- ica would be one of the greatest aids to the extension of American influence and commerce that could be devised. The increase of manufacturing has been quite noticeable in recent years, and eventually will cause a diminution in the imports of cer- tain articles. Quite a number of cotton fac- tories have been established in certain sections of the country, and the labour has been found quite well adapted to that class of manufac- turing. Establishments for the preparation and curing of meats have also been built under government concessions, while tobacco facto- ries, which work up the very excellent tobacco grown in the country, and breweries have been established in many sections of the country. The Mexican tobacco is said by those who pose as experts to have a very excellent flavour, and by many is claimed to be superior even to the Cuban article. The product grown in the state of Vera Cruz has the best flavour, but a num- ber of other states produce large quantities of the weed. The greatest enterprise now operating in Mexico, excepting only the railroads, is the The Present and the Future 463 ]\Iexico Light and Power Company, a Cana- dian corporation. This group of men own the electric light and gas plants and the tramways of the City of IMexico, Puebla and a number of other cities. As a part of their enterprise they have built a great dam by means of which the waters of the Necaxa River are utilized for the production of the electricity. This is dis- tant ninety-six miles to the northeast of the capital. Fed by springs this river becomes a good sized stream before it plunges over a precipice of four hundred and sixty feet, and a short distance beyond is one of a still greater fall. The main dam is one hundred and ninety- four feet high and about thirteen hundred feet wide, and contains an immense amount of ma- terial. It is built of stone and concrete. By means of this and the auxiliary dams a valley has been made into an immense reservoir, so that the dry season might be provided for when the natural flow of water would be insuf- ficient. It is claimed that enough water can be stored to run the power plant through two years of continual drouth. The water is car- ried to the turbines by means of pipes which pierce the mountain, bringing to each turbine a stream of water six feet in diameter and car- rying all the force of a drop exceeding one 464 Mexico and Her People To-day thousand feet. The total transmission lines reach a length of more than two hundred miles, and the capacity of the plant is two hundred and fifty thousand horse power. At the pres- ent time this company supplies all the electric power in the capital, as well as several mining enterprises, and as soon as the plant is wholly completed, will supply Puebla and other cities. Its franchise is from the Mexican government and is in perpetuity. This simply gives an indication of what can be done in the develop- ment of the natural resources of Mexico. In a country where fuel is scarce and high priced, the value of the water power is accordingly increased. There are many other waterfalls awaiting development, and it only needs the necessary capital, and a combination of far- sighted men, such as those who compose the Canadian corporation above mentioned, to sup- ply the great need of Mexico for cheap and sat- isfactory power. It is unfortunate for Mexico that mining has absorbed almost all of her energies, and agri- culture has been allowed to drop into a second- ary position. One cause for this has been the Spanish characteristic, as represented by the original conquerors, of seeking quick wealth instead of attempting to coax out of mother The Present and the Future 465 earth the treasure that she possesses. There are labourers in plenty, if they are properly instructed, but the hacendados, as well as la- bourers, adhere to the most primitive methods. It has been said that '^ earth is here so kind that just tickle her with a hoe and she laughs with a harvest." This is not true of all parts of the country, of course, for much of it is mountainous and of a broken character, but the statement will apply to large portions of the republic. The government of Mexico has endeavoured to improve agricultural conditions by dissem- inating information as to scientific methods of cultivation, irrigation and fertilization, but very little of it has had a noticeable effect. The government has also distributed large quantities of seeds and plants with little effect. In most parts of the republic the land is tilled just as it was four centuries ago. It is really surprising that, in spite of these antiquated methods, the results have been so good as they are. As mentioned heretofore the wooden plough with a small iron shoe, which merely scratches the surface of the earth, is still used ; men may be seen cutting wheat with the sickle, and much of the threshing is done by driving horses and mules around a ring covered with 466 Mexico and Her People To-day grain, just as it was done in the old Biblical days. The winnowing is accomplished by toss- ing the wheat and the chaff into the air, and then the grain is hauled to the haciendas . or markets in clumsy and ponderous two-wheeled carts. A hacienda run upon modern American methods would certainly be a much more prof- itable enterprise than when conducted after this style. In a few sections of the country, one will find a plantation here and there where some new methods have been introduced and American machinery employed, but these are rare. Even in the Valley of Mexico, not far from the City of Mexico, the most antiquated methods will be seen employed at all times. The richness of the land and its cheapness has caused the floating of many land companies in the United States. They can show great pros- pects on paper, but the trouble is that many of them have been floated by unscrupulous men, who care nothing for the interests of the stockholders, but are looking simply for pro- moters' profits. When the real buyers reach the land they discover that things are not as represented, do not find conditions of living to their liking, and in a very short time the whole enterprise is dropped. Many have probably The Present and the Future 467 lost practically all of their savings. These things, of course, cannot be entirely guarded against, and they certainly fail to prove that Mexico is not a rich agricultural country. They simply demonstrate what fraud can be perpetrated upon people in a country where the land is teeming with fertility. Land val- ues have undoubtedly advanced in the past few years, and some enormous tracts have been purchased by Americans, which, are already showing profits for the owners. There has been much criticism heaped upon the Mexican courts, and a great deal of it has been deserved. The judicial system of Mexico is copied rather after the French and Spanish than the Anglo-Saxon system. In recent years the procedure has been improved greatly, but it still needs other changes in order to bring it up to the twentieth century standards. In years past American railroad engineers, who were unfortunate enough to run over some one, received harsh treatment in Mexican jails. The law of incommunicado, by which an accused person is locked up for three days, is still in force. It used to be that a wounded person could not be touched or moved before the ar- rival of the authorities, which caused much suffering ; but this at least has been abolished. 468 Mexico and Her People To-day The judicial system, which includes supreme courts, district courts, circuit courts, police courts and other minor courts, is intended to give justice to the defendant in a criminal ac- tion, and to both parties in a civil action, but in many cases — to an American — the. result does not seem to be satisfactory. The jury system is in use in Mexico, and nine persons compose a jury. The jurymen may consist of both natives and foreigners, but the members must have some occupation, educa- tion or independent means. The law provides that the accused must be acquainted with the names and number of his accusers, and must be confronted with the witnesses who testify against him. The testimony is all taken down in longhand writing, which is a tedious process, as followed out in Mexican courts. In criminal cases it is generally read over to the witness and signed by him, which method, although it is cumbersome, sometimes gives a degree of certainty and correctness to the testimony. It is true that in many cases the points that are raised by the accused are treated with very little consideration. This is not the fault of the law, but is the result of its maladministration by the officials, just as similar instances are the world over. Arrests of natives are made for The Present and the Future 469 all sorts of offences, many of which are trivial, and they are generally kept in jail for several days before they are finally given a hearing. Foreigners are usually treated with great con- sideration and substantial justice is done them. It probably is not good policy for citizens of another country to criticise Mexico, when there are so many blots upon the administration of justice in every civilized country, and the United States is not an exception. Local con- ditions, public clamour and other things influ- ence the action of courts in Mexico, just as they do in every other country. In addition to the railroad connections the steamship lines form a very important part in the national transportation of Mexico. The long coast line on both the Pacific Ocean and Gulf of Mexico provides many ports. The national traffic between these ports is quite a considerable item, but the foreign commerce is still greater. At the present time Mexico has direct steamship connection with the United States, Canada, Europe, South America, Cen- tral America, the West Indies and the Orient. The principal ports are Tampico, Puerto Mex- ico (formerly Coatzacoalcos) and Progresso on the Gulf, and Salina Cruz, Acapulco, Manza- nillo, and Mazatlan on the Pacific. There are 470 Mexico and Her People To-day in all more than twenty steamship lines that have contracts with the government for carry- ing the mails, and nearly all of these enjoy subsidies of large or small amounts or enjoy certain privileges or concessions. The most important company operating is the one known as the Ward Line, which con- ducts a weekly service between several Mexican ports, Havana and New York. This company has some very good boats, and does a large business between all of those ports. The Mal- lory Line, the Mexican- American Line and the Munson Line have regular service between Mexican ports, Galveston and New Orleans. There are also several companies that make regular trips between Vera Cruz, Tampico and European ports. On the Pacific coast the Kos- mos Line, operated by the Hamburg American Company, have a regular service from Seattle down the west coast of the United States, Mexico, Central America and South America to Europe by the way of the Straits of Ma- gellan. The Pacific Mail Steamship Company operate about three boats a month from San Francisco to Panama, where connections are made for New York and West Coast ports of South America. The American-Hawaiian Com- pany have boats which sail between Hawaii The Present and the Future 471 and Salina Cruz. There are also, in addition to these mentioned, a number of coast lines on both the Pacific and Atlantic side, which do a considerable traffic between the various ports. The Canadian-Mexican Pacific Steamship Com- pany recently begaii to operate boats between Victoria, British Columbia and Salina Cruz, and gives a monthly service between those ports. In order to develop and facilitate this coast traffic the Mexican government has spent a great deal of money in providing harbours and docks at a number of the smaller ports, in addi- tion to the larger enterprises that have here- tofore been described. Mexico has not a great number of navigable rivers. On the Pacific side the Mayo, the Yaqui, the Balsas, the Eio Grande de Santiago and one or two others are classed as navigable streams, but because of bars and other obstruc- tions they can be used only by boats of com- paratively light draft. On the Atlantic side, just below the Isthmus of Tehuantepec, is the Grigalva River, which is a broad and imposing stream. Large boats ply regularly up this stream to San Juan Bautista, a distance of about seventy-five miles. Small boats go' up still farther, the boat traffic extending clear to the mountains. The Usumasinta River is an 472 Mexico and Her People To-day affluent of this stream, and is navigable for small boats even beyond tbe Guatemala border. The Coatzacoalcos River, which flows into the Gulf at the town of the same name, is quite an important stream, and furnishes an outlet to a considerable territory. The Papaloapan River, which flows into the Gulf of Mexico near Vera Cruz, has been dredged and made navi- gable for a considerable distance into the in- terior. It has proved a great benefit to many small towns and plantations there situated. North of Vera Cruz are the Soto La Marina, the Tuxpan and the Panuco Rivers, all of which are navigable for a hundred miles or more. As an adjunct to the navigable streams and the deep water ports the government is now build- ing an intercoastal canal, which is similar to the one proposed along the Gulf coast of Lou- isiana and Texas to connect the Mississippi and Rio Grande Rivers. There are a series of la- goons and small lakes that lie just a short dis- tance within the coast line, and which can be connected and deepened. They will then form a convenient and safe waterway for navigation. The government is spending several million dol- lars on the first link of this system, which will connect the ports of Tampico and Tuxpan, a distance of about a hundred miles. Half of this The Present and the Future 473 sectiou is already finished and in operation, and it is estimated that in three or four years more this part of the canal will be finished. This waterway has a width of seventy-five feet and a uniform depth of ten and one-half feet, and will connect the mouths of the Panuco and the Tuxpan Elvers. The Panuco, near Tam- pico, is fifty feet deep, and the deepest draft ocean vessels can come in and unload at the docks of Tampico. The section of the canal already opened is constantly filled with long and narrow boats, manned by natives, which are jDropelled by means of long poles when the wind fails. The opening of this section of the canal has worked wonders in the development of this part of the coast land, because it places the products of the plantations and ranches within easy reach of the markets. It has also served to drain thousands of acres of land, which were formerly considered to be of no use whatever. On this route the canal passes through Lake Tamiahua, which is seventy-nine miles long and from five to twenty miles wide. Lake Tampa- machoco, a much smaller lake, will also be trav- ersed by this canal. The water in these lakes is comparatively shallow, and it has been nec- essary to deepen them considerably in order to 474 Mexico and Her People To-day make tlie canal of uniform depth with the other portion. The distance between Tampico and the mouth of the Eio Grande is about three hundred miles, but a number of salt water la- goons, which lie near the coast, can be utilized as a portion of the canal. If this project, and the similar one planned by the United States, are completed, it will furnish a very long inland waterway for the coast region. It will serve the double purpose of draining and making more healthful that portion of the country, and likewise giving an outlet for the development that will surely follow. The land when once drained has been proved to be of unusual fer- tility. The influence of the Anglo-Saxon in Mexico has been very marked. What the English have done in Argentina and many parts of the world, the Americans have done in our neighbouring republic. It is a significant fact that the Span- ish influences have been perceptibly disappear- ing, while that of the Anglo-Saxon has been in the ascendency. This change can be noted in a great many ways, both in thought, customs and foreign relations. This transition has not been promptly recognized, and in some quar- ters it has been strongly objected to by the extreme conservative elements; but, neverthe- The Present and the Future 475 less, it lias beeu steadily marebing on. Many of the Mexicans prominent in the political and business life recognize tliis trend and encourage it, for they feel that Mexico needs Anglo-Saxon methods and ideas in order to develop the coun- try, and give it the prestige that its importance deserves. There are perhaps twenty or twenty- five thousand Americans who permanently re- side in Mexico, and, in addition, there is the effect of the many millions of American money invested in the country, and the thousands of tourists and business men who annually cross the borders. There is, doubtless, a strong prejudice against the American and his methods in many parts of Mexico, and this feeling seems to have been somewhat intensified in the recent revolution. It is not to be wondered at that such a feeling exists. From first to last Mexico has ceded to the United States almost one million square miles of territory, which is almost one-third more than the present size of the republic. First came the separation of Texas, which was undoubtedly due to the intriguing of Americans who had crossed over into that section of Mex- ico. These pioneers and adventurers brought about the declaration of independence by the Lone Star State. A few years later that terri- 476 Mexico and Her People To-day tory was admitted into the United States as one of its integral parts. Then came the Mexi- can War, which most of us admit was an unjust war, and which resulted in the cession of more than half a million of square miles of territory. A few years later, by the Gadsden Purchase, which was due to disputes over the boundary line, another block of territory, as large as the state of Ohio, was added to the domain of the United States. In the revolution of 1910 many Americans crossed the border, joined the forces of the rev- olutionists, and aided in the troubles of the then existing government. Furthermore, very many American tourists who visit Mexico make them- selves disagreeable by their actions and their criticisms, which also add to the anti- American feeling. So many include all Mexicans under the general title of ^ ' greasers, ' ' and can see no good in anything that is not American. It is a fortunate thing that the good people of Mex- ico understand very little English; otherwise they would frequently be excited to anger, if they could hear the remarks that are made by Americans in visiting their churches, battle fields and other places surrounded by sacred associations. They are not fools, however, and even if they do not understand the words they The Present and the Future 477 cau catch the trend of remarks by the gesture and laugh that accompanies them. As the Spanish race are exceedingly sensitive this lack of sympathy and almost open contempt cannot result otherwise than do injury to a general good feeling. Some Americans grumble at everything, get mad because all the waiters and porters do not understand English, complain about the hotels because they cannot obtain everything just like they would in a Fifth Ave- nue hotel, and, in fact, find fault with every- thing that they see. As a contrast to this one might consider the attitude of Mexicans. It is difficult to do justice to the innate courtesy of officials and people when Americans show them so little. You can murder his beloved Spanish in attempting to address a Mexican, and he will listen with infinite patience and never a smile of amusement or expression of vexation on his face. The Mexican is polite not only to his superiors and equals, but to his servants as well. The republic of Mexico has passed through dark days. It has suffered from the evil gov- ernment of foreigners and from the reckless ambitions of its own rulers. The burdens of former mistakes still remain, and there is a lingering distrust of the powerful republic to 478 Mexico and Her People To-day the north in many places. This distrust has been fanned into greater intensity by recent political agitators. The good sense of the lead- ers will quickly reassert itself, however, and a more perfect understanding will surely result. American intelligence and capital have done too much in bringing about the material prosperity of the country for such conditions to exist per- manently. Mexico needs capital for the devel- opment of her resources, and American capital is most available for that purpose. Americans will even be interested in the moral and mate- rial advancement of their neighbours across the Rio Grande. To the reader who has followed this narra- tive to the end, I give my valediction, a la Mex- icana: Adios! Vaya usted con Dios. THE END. APPENDICES The following table gives the area and pop- ulation of the various states, territories of Tepie, Quintana Roo and Lower California, and the Federal District ; also the name of the cap- ital and number of its inhabitants, the figures being for the year 1900 : — Stat*. 8q. Hllet. PopnUtloB. Capital. Inhabitant!. Aguas Calientes, 2,950 101,910 Aguas Calientes, 35,052 Campeche, 20,087 84,218 Campeche, 17,109 Coahuila, 63,569 280,899 Saltillo, 23,936 Colima, 2,700 65,026 Colima, 20,698 Chiapas, 29,600 363,216 Tuxtla, 10,982 Chihuahua, 87,802 327,004 Chihuahua, 30,405 Durango, 42,200 371,274 Durango, 31,092 Guanajuato, 12,300 1,065,317 Guanajuato, 41,486 Guerrero, 24,996 474,594 Chilpanzingo, 7,497 Hidalgo, 8,917 603,074 Pachuca, 37,487 Jalisco, 31,846 1,137,311 Guadalajara, 101,208 Mexico, 9,247 924,457 Toluca, 25,904 Michoacan^ 22,874 935,849 Morelia, 37,278 Morelos, 2,773 161,697 Cuernavaca, 9,584 Nuevo Leon, 23,592 326,940 Monterey, 62.266 Oaxaca, 35,382 947,910 Oaxaca, 85,049 Puebla, 12,204 1,024,446 Puebla, 93,521 Queretaro, 3,556 228,489 Queretaro, 33,152 San Luis Potosi, 25,316 582,486 San Luis Potosi, 61,019 Sinaloa, 33,671 296,109 Culiacan, 10,380 Sonora, 76,900 220,553 Hermosillo, 10,613 Tabasco, 10,072 158,107 479 San Juan Bantista, 10,643 480 A; ppendices state. Sq, Miles. Popnlstlon. CBpltah Inhabitants. Tamaulipas, 32,128 220,253 Victoria, 10,086 Tlaxcala, 1,595 172,217 Tlaxcala, 2,847 Vera Cruz, 29,201 960,570 Jalapa, 20,388 Yucatan, 20,203 227,264 Merida, 43,630 Zacatecas, 24,75T 496,810 Zacatecas, 32,856 Tepic, 11,257 149,677 Tepic, 15,488 Lower California, 68,328 47,082 La Paz, 5,046 Federal District, 463 530,723 City of Mexico, 344,721 Quintana Roo. 15.000 85,000 Santa Cruz de Bravo, 2,000 II The broken character of the surface of Mex- ico is shown by the many high mountain peaks which are scattered over the country. Most of these peaks are extinct volcanoes, although one of them, Colima, is in constant eruption. The following table gives the name, location and height of all the peaks over ten thousand feet in height : — Mountain. Popocatepetl, Orizaba, Ixtaccihuatl, Toluca, Colima, Ajusco, Cofre de Perote, Zapotlan, Tancitaro, Zempoaltepec, Pico de Quinco, . State. Mexico, Vera Cruz, Puebla, Mexico, Jalisco, Federal District, Vera Cruz, Jalisco, Michoacan, Oaxaca, Michoacan, Elevation. 17,782 ft. 17,362 ft. 16,060 ft. 15,019 ft. 14,263 ft. 13,650 ft. 13,641 ft. 12,743 ft. 12,653 ft. 11,141 ft. 10,900 ft Appendices 481 III SUGGESTIONS FOR TRAVELLERS The visitor to Mexico will find few inconveni- ences in the way of railway travel. The coaches are, with only occasional exceptions, of Ameri- can manufacture, and the through trains on most of the railroads have Pullman coaches at fares that are considerably lower than in the United States. It is well to make the trip going and coming to the capital by different routes, choosing the El Paso route for one trip and the Laredo gateway for the other. If the vis- itor is from the eastern part of the United States, a sea voyage from either New York or New Orleans to Vera Cruz makes a pleasant variation to the monotony of railroad travel. If bound for San Francisco one can travel through the republic to Salina Cruz, and there embark for that city. When the Southern Pa- cific extension is completed to Guadalajara this will also furnish another good way either to enter or leave Mexico. The Mexican customs examination is a very formal affair and causes very little inconve- nience to the traveller, for the officials are usu- ally very courteous. An ignorance of the Span- 482 Appendices ish language will not cause a great deal of trouble to the experienced traveller in the cities, as it is a very easy matter to find some one who can speak English. In the remoter districts more trouble will be encountered, so that one should have at least a few stock phrases to use. The money of Mexico is easy for one to famil- iarize himself with, as the peso is equal to fifty cents in American money. The only inconve- nience at times is the trouble of carrying so many of these pesos, each of which is the size of one of our American silver dollars. The minor coins are all on the decimal system, the peso counting as one hundred centavos. Hotel accommodation in the cities is fair, although it will take the traveller some time to get used to the large rooms that he will often- times be placed in. The charges are generally based on the European plan, but occasionally one will find a hotel on the American plan, and the charges are reasonable. On arriving at a hotel the guest is usually shown a room, and, if it is accepted, he may then register and his name is written on a blackboard with his room number. The cab charges are usually reason- able. In the City of Mexico there are three classes of cabs, indicated respectively by blue, red and yellow flags, the latter being the cheap- Appendices 483 est class. The driver always expects a small fee in addition to the regular fare. Good stores will be found in the cities, and the prices are not excessive. Most people are interested in things that may be purchased as souvenirs of the country. The famous drawn work can be bought to the best advantage in northern Mexico, and especially at Aguas Cali- entes. Mexico is also noted for her onyx, opals and the turquoise. The proper clothing to be worn is that used in the United States for spring or fall in the higher altitudes, and a light coat should be a part of the wardrobe. In the lower levels light- weight summer clothing can be worn at all sea- sons of the year. Most people visit Mexico during the winter months, but summer, which is the rainy season, is likewise delightful. IV BIBLIOGRAPHY Ballou, M. M.: Aztec Land. Boston, 1890. Bancroft, H. H.: History of Mexico. 6 vols. San Francisco, 1888. Bandelier, a. F.: Report of an Archeological Tour. Boston, 1885. Beart, Lucien: The Aztecs, their History, Manners and Customs. From the French. Chicago, 1900. Bishop, W. H.: Old Mexico and Her Lost Provinces. New York, 1883. 484 Appendices Brooks, N. C: History of the Mexican War. Philadelphia, 1849. Charnat, Desire: Ancient Cities of the New World. Trans- lated from French. New York, 1887. CoNKLiN, Howard: Mexico and the Mexicans. New York, 1883. Creelman, James: Diaz: Master of Mexico. New York, 1910. Diaz del Castillo, Bernal: The True History of the Con- quest of Mexico. Written in 1568. Translation. New York, 1803. Edwards, William Seymour: On the Mexican Highlands. Cincinnati, 1906. Flandrau, C. M.: Viva Mexico. New York, 1908. Gadnow, Hans: Through Southern Mexico. New York, 1908. GoocH, Fannie C: Face to Face with the Mexicans. New York, 1887. Griffin, S. B.: Mexico of To-day. New York, 1886. Hale, Susan: Story of Mexico. New York, 1889. Haven, Gilbert: Our Next Door Neighbor: A Winter in Mexico. New York, 1875. Humboldt, Alexander von: Political Essay on the Kingdom of New Spain. London, 1822. Kirkham, Stanton Davis: Mexican Trials. Boston, 1909. Lumholtz, Carl. Unknown Mexico. 2 vols. New York, 1902. Lummis, Charles F.: The Awakening of a Nation. New York, 1899. Martin, Percy F.: Mexico of the Twentieth Century. Lon- don, 1907. Mayer, Brantz: Mexico as It Was and Is. London, 1844. Noll, A. H.: A Short History of Mexico. Chicago, 1903. Ober, Frederick A.: Travels in Mexico. Boston, 1885. Prescott, W. H.: Conquest of Mexico. 1843. Romero, Matias: Mexico and the United States. New York, 1898. Smith, F. H.: A White Umbrella in Mexico. Boston. 1889. Starr, Frederick: In Indian Mexico. Chicago, 1908. Stephens, John L.: Incidents of Travel in Yucatan. New York, 1843. Stevenson, Sara: Maximilian in Mexico. New York, 1899. TwEEDiE, Mrs. Alec: The Maker of Modem Mexico: Por- firio Diaz. London, 1906. Wallace, Dillon: Beyond the Mexican Sierras. Chicago, 1910. INDEX Acapulco, 99, 299, 382. Agriculture, 464-467. Agave Americana, 41. Aguador (water carrier), 221. Agua miel (honev-water), 43. Aguas Calientes, 36, 219, 298. Aqueduct of Oaxaca, 116; of Queretero, 35. Ahuehuete (cypress) of Cha- pultepec, 86; of Popotla, 78; of Tule, 153. Alameda, The, 56, 69. Alamo, Battle of the, 360. Alcabales, Abolishment of, 293. Alhondiga de Granaditas, The, of Guanajuato, 348, 349. Altata, 429. Alvaredo, Pedro, 279. American Capital in Mexico, 280. American Colony, 53. Anahuac, Valley of, 74 et seq. Apam, Plains of, 41, 91. Architecture, Mexican, 47, 271-273. Army, The Mexican, 334-337. Art in Mexico, 270. Auto-da-fe, The first, 345. Aztecs, Historj' of the, 11, 75; Subjugation of, 14-16; De- scendants of, 183 et seq.; Markets of, 217-218; Cele- brations of, 235. Banana, Culture of the, 106- 108, 431. Baptism of Indians, 309. Baptist Missions, 324-326. Bargaining, 125, 220. Barra, Francisco de la, 408, 413. Bear, Playing the, 48, 170- 172. Beggars, Mexican, 242, 340. Belem, Prison of, 317. Boca del Monte, 91. Bonanzas (meaning mines worked at great profit), 275 et seq. Books, first printed in Mexico, 259. Borda, Joseph de la, 276. Buena Vista, Battle of, 27. Bull-fight, 243 et seq. Bull-ring, 245. Cacao, 105, 109. Campo Santo, 63. Capitals, Population of the, 479. Cargadors (burden-bearers), 195-199. Cart, Mexican, 120. Casa (meaning home), 163, 210-211. Casas Grandes, 403, 425. Cathedral of Capital, 60, 321- 323. Catorce, 283, 330. Cattle ranches, 36, 128, 417. 418-419. Celaya, 297, 298. Celebrations in honour of the 485 486 Index Virgin of Guadalupe, 236 et seq. Cemeteries, 63. Centennial of Independence, 1910, 73, 396-398. Central Railway, 297-299. Cerro (a hill) de las Campanas, 35. Chalco, Lake, 74. Chamber of Deputies, The, 18. Chapala, Lake, 9. Chapultepec, 86; military- academy, 337. Chiapas, State of, 304. Chichen Itza, 441-447. Chihuahua, City of, 36, 298, 405, 417-419, 422; State of, 36, 398, 401, 415, 424; Exe- cution of Hidalgo at, 349. Chinampas, or floating gar- dens, 82. Chilpantzingo, 350. Cholula, 78, 148; Pyramid of, 113, 149, 150. Chorubusco, 363. Christmas celebrations, 227- 232. Churches, Mexican, 271-273. Church, The Mexican, 308 et seq. Cinco de Mayo, Victory of, 37, 374; Street of, 50. Ciudad Juarez, 401, 402, 404, 405, 416, 424. Climate of the Capital, 54-55; Variety of, 8; of Oaxaca, 123. Coahuila, State of, 27. Coal, 288-289. Coatzacoalcos, 99. 137, 139. Cock-fighting, 33.' Coffee culture, 94, 106, 431. Colonia Juarez, 425. Comonfort, President, 315. Congress, First Mexican, 350; Second, 354; of to-day, 18. Congregational Missions, 324- 326. Conquest, Manner of the, 14- 16, 77. Conquistadores (conquerors). Vandalism and nature of, 13. Contrasts, A land of, 45. Copper, Production of, 228. Cordillerias, The, 26. Cordoba, 94, 301; Treaty of, 353. Corral, Hon. Ramon, 405. Cortez, 77, 111; Defeat of, 78; as governor, 343; Land- ing of, 95; and his follow- ers, 13-16. Cosmopolitan character of City of Mexico, 59. Coyoacan, 85. Creole, The, 51, 162; women, 165-166. Cuautla, Battle of, 350. Cuernevaca, 299. Cuilapa, 358. Cuitzeo, Lake, 9- Culiacan, 429. Curandera (native doctor), 222-224. Currency reform, 459. Customs, Domestic, 167; Strange, 201 et seq.; offi- cials, polite, 22, 482. Cypress of Noche Triste, 78; of Chapultepec, 86; of Tule, 153. Denouncing a mining claim, 287 Desierto, El, 85. Diaz, Bernal, 262. Diaz, Porfirio, 18-19; Birth- place of, 116; and educa- tion, 264; encouragement of railroads, 296; and Prot- estantism, 325 ; organizes Rurales, 331-333; Sketch of, 369 et seq.; Revolution against, 396 et seq. Index 487 Diego Juan, Vision of, 236- 238. Dolores Hidalgo, 34, 347. Douglass, 402. Dude, The Mexican, 57. Dulccs (IMexican candy), 220. Durango, 36, 278; Mountain of iron inj288; State of, 415. Easter, Celebration of, 232- 234. Education in Mexico, 257 et seq.; of soldiers, 335. Ejutla, 283. El Paso, 401, 404, 416, 481. Embrace, A Mexican, 47. English language, Teaching o1^, 267. Ensenada, 434. Esperanza, 91. EvangeUsta (letter-writer), 220. Exclusiveness of Mexicans, 164, 210. Exports and imports, 459- 460. Farming in the tropics, 106; Antiquated, 123, 465. Feasts and festivals, 225 et seq. Feather work, Aztec, 218. Federal District, Schools of, 265. Ferrocarriles Mexicanos, 294 et seq. Fibre-producing plants, 40. Fiesta, 190, 225; at Oaxaca, 117; at Guadalupe, 236 et seq.; de las Flores, 235. Finances of Mexico, 458-459. Floating gardens, 82-84. Flower market. The 67. Frijoles, 216. Funeral cars, 62. Germans, AflBhation of, 38. Goat raising, 417. Gold of Aztecs, 285; Produc- tion of, 288. Gomez, Vasquez, 410. Gondola, The Mexican, 82. Gonzalez, Manuel, 384. Graphite, 289. Grasshoppers as food, 81. Gringo, a term of derision originally applied to for- eigners. Grito, The, 347. Guadalajara, 37, 219, 299, 426, 428. Guadalupe, Town of, 240- 242; Church of, 238; Vir- gin of, 236-242. Guadalupe-Hidalgo, Treaty of, 363. Guanajuato, 36, 277, 283; Battle at, 348, 383. Guatemotzin, eleventh and last Aztec Emperor, 78. Guaymas, 99, 301, 428. Guaxaca (See Oaxaca). Guerrero, The patriot, 352, 357. Guatemala City, Bull fight in, 252; Earthquake in, 260; Theatre of, 284. Hacienda, The, 27-30; of Mitla, 124-128; of Zuloaga, 418-420; Labour on, 189. Hacendado, The, 28, 52. Henequen, 40-41. Hermosillo, 301, 427-428. Hidalgo, Miguel, 347-349, 392, 397. Hidalgo Railway, 297. Holidays, 190, 225 et seq. Home, Regard for, 163, 210. Horsemen, Mexican, 57. Huamantla, 381. HuitzilopoxtU, 308. Iglesias, 382-383, 387, 388. Improvements, Contemplated, in Capital, 71-73. 488 Index Independence, Declaration of, 350. Indians, 183 et seq., 421-424; habits and characteristics, 58; of the hotlands, 103; cargadors, 195-199; mar- ket, 120-122; Independent tribe of, 115; miners, 280. Inquisition, Establishment of the, 345. International Railway, 297. Interoceanic Railway, 297. Irapuato, 298, 299. Iron, 288. Irrigation, Benefits of, 39. Iturbide, Agustin de, 352-356; Hotel, 356. Ixtaccihuatl, Volcano of, 87, 113. Ixtlan, 373. Ixtle, 23. Japanese, Resemblance of Mexicans to, 10. Jardenas fiotandas, 82-84. Jesuits, The, 258. Juarez, Benito, Birthplace of, 116; attitude toward edu- cation, 264; crushes tem- poral power of the Church, 315; favours Diaz, 371; sketch of career, 364-368, 388. Judas, Burning of, 233. Judicial System, 467-469. Labourers, Mexican, 183 et seq. Lajartija, (Mexican dude), 57. La Paz, 434, 436. Laredo, 481. Las Madres, 415. Lead, 289. Legal customs, 207-209. Leon, 36, 298. Leperos, 339, 340. Lerdo, 368, 379, 382, 385, 387, 388. Liberty Bell, The, of Mexico, 69. Library, National, 269. Limantour, Minister of Fi- nance, 298, 459. Literary men, 262 et seq. Literature, Mexican, 258 et seq. Lovemaking, Mexican, 170- 172. Lower California, 306, 431- 437. Madero Family, 400, 411. Madero, Francisco, 400, 401, 403, 404, 406-408, 410^14, 435. Madrid, Bull-ring of, 244; Bull-fight in, 253. Magdalena, 426. Magdalena Bay, 435. Maguey, 41-45. Mai Paso, 400. Maltrata, 92. Manana, The Land of, 204. Manzanillo, 99, 299. Markets, Ancient, 217-218; of capital, 218; of Oaxaca, 117-119; of Tehuantepec, 132. Marsh-flies as food, 81. Matamoros, 380. Maximilian, 264, 315, 366- 367, 390; Execution of, 34- 35. Mayas, The, 438 et seq. Mazatlan, 99, 279, 429-430. Mendoza, Viceroy, 258, 344. Merchants, Aztec, 329. Mesas, 26. Mescal (native brandy), 45. Mestizos, 184. Metate, 178, 215. Methodist Missions, 324, 326. Mexican races, Origin of, 10. Mexican, Conservatism of, 52, 174; his view of Anglo- Saxon, 20. Index 489 Mexican Central Railway, 80, 297-299. Mexican National Railway, Route of, 24 ct seq., 297-298. Mexican Railway, 90 cl seq., 299. Mexican Southern Railway, 112-114, 300. Mexico, Antiquity of, 3; Re- sources of, 19; The United States of, IS. Minaca, 420. Mines of Mexico, 274 et seq., 427, 434. Missions, Protestant, in Mex- ico. 324-327. Mitla, Village of, 152; Ruins of, 152 et seq.; Hacienda of, 124-127, 154. Molino del Rey (the king's mill), 88, 363. Monte de Piedad, 61. Monte las Cruces, Battle of, 349. Monterey, 24-25, 297, 299, 417; Battle of, 25. Montezuma, 199. Moon, P\Tamid of the, 147. Morelas Jose Maria, 350-352. Morelia, 268, 351, 352. Mormon Colony, 425—426. Mountains, 24, 415 et seq. Mozo, a servant. Museum, National, 269. Nahuals, 75. National Palace, The, 322. National Railway, 297. Navarro, General, 404r-405. Newspapers and periodicals, 260-261. Noche Bueno, 227. Noche Triste, Tree of, 78. Nochistongo cut, 80. No es costumbre, 213-214. Nogales, 402, 426. No hay, 220. " Northers," The, 7, 98. Notaries, Mexican, 209. Nuevo Leon, State of, 24. Oaxaca, 111 et seq., 300, 371, 381; Markets of, 117-119; Valley of. 111, 151-152; Mines of, 283. O'Donaju, Viceroy, 353. Ojinaga, 400. Oiiate, Juan de, 276. Oranges, 109, 431. Orient, Resemblance to, 1-3, 121-123. Oriental habits of women, 162. Orizaba, 93, 366; Volcano of, 91, 113. Orozco, Pascual, 404r-405. Pachuca, 282, 297, 405. Padilla, 355. Palace, The National, 68-69. Palenque, 441, 451-455. Palo Alto, Battle of, 361. Panama Canal, A competitor of, 136 et seq. Pan American Railroad, 303- 305. Pateon of Guanajuato, 284; National, 72. Paseo de la Reforma, 56, 69. Patio (courtyard) in houses, 47. Patio process, 279, 281. Patzcuaro, Lake, 9, 270. Pawnshop, The National, 61. Peon, The, 183 et seq.; as a soldier, 334-335. Peonage, 188-189, 191-192, 390. Pertenencia, a mining claim, 287. Petroleum, Production of, 289. Piedad, Monte de, 277. Pijijiapam, 304. Pinate, Breaking the, 231-232. Plateaus, The, 26, 295. 490 Index Plaza Mayor, 68; de Toros, 245. Poets and poetry, Mexican, 262-264. Police, The, 336, 341. Politeness, 209. Popocatapetl, 87, 89, 113. Popotla, Village of, 78. Poppies, Feast of the, 235. Population of Mexico, 9; of states and capitals, 479. Posadas, The, 228-232. Pottery, Mexican, 119, 219. Presbyterian Missions, 324, 326. Printing press, First, 259. Prisons, schools in, 287. Procrastination, A land of, 203-205. Protestantism in Mexico, 317, 324-327. Puebla, 37-39, 113, 297, 383, 398, 407; city of churches, 321; house of the inquisi- tion in, 345; Battles at, 374, 378. Pulque, 41, 66; shop, 65-67. Pyramid of Cholula, 113, 149, 150; of the Sun, 147; of the Moon, 147. Quetzalcoatl, 149, 235. Queretero, 34, 298. Kailroads, Mexican, 143, 290 et seq., 417-418, 481. Rainfall, 102, 418, 435. Real del Monte, Mines of, 282. Rebosa, 59. Regla, Count of, 277; Mines of, 282. Religion of Mexico, 308 et seq. Reyes, Bamardo, 407-408. Rincon Antonio, 138. Robbers and bandits of former days, 328-333. Ruins of Yucatan, 146, 440 et seq.; of Mitla, 152 et seq. Rurales, 331-334, 336. S a g r a r i o Metropolitano, Church of, 321-322. Saint, Mexico's patron, 236. Saint days, 191. Salina Cruz, 99, 137, 139 et seq., 481. Saltillo, 27, 297. San Antonio, Texas, 22. San Benito, 305. San Bias, 99. San Cristobal, Lake, 74. San Cristobal Ecatepec, 351. San Geronimo, 304. San Juan de Ulua, Fort of, 98, 356. San Juan Teotihuacan, 146- 148. San Luis Potosi, City of, 30 et seq., 297, 299; State of, 30. Santa Anita, Village of, 83. Santa Anna, General, 354, 359-364; Burial place of, 239. Santa Lucrecia, 131, 301. School of fine arts, 270. Schools, PubUc, 264-266. ^ Scott, General, in Mexico, 361, 363. Seasons, Only two, 7. Senate, The, 18. Senoritas, 169. Serenos, 342. Sheep Raising, 417. Shoemaker, Mexican, 221. Silver, 275 et seq.; Produc- tion of, 287. Sinaloa, State of, 415, 428-431. Society in the capital, 53. Soldiers, Schools for, 267. Sonora, State of, 398, 415, 427. Southern Pacific Railway, 301. States, The, of Mexico, 18; Index 491 Area and population of, 479. Steamship Lines, 469-471. Streets of the capital, 50. Suarez, JostJ Maria Pino, 410, 411. Sugar cane, 109, 429. Sun, Pyramid of, 147. Sunday, a day of pleasure, 57. Tablelands, 26. Tacuba, 85. Tacudaya, 85. Tajo de Nochistongo, 80. Tamales, 216. Tampico, 99, 289. Taotl, an Aztec god, 308. Tarahumari Indians, 421-424. Tasco, 277. Tavlor, General, Invasion by, 24 el seq.; at Palo Alto, 361. Tecoac, 382. Tehuacan, 114. Tehuantepec, Isthmus of, 128, 289 et seq.; Town of, 132- 134; Women of, 180-181; National Railway, 136 et seq., 301. Tejada, Lerdo de (See Lerdo). Temperature of the tropics, 100, 102; of the capital, 54. Tenochtitlan, The ancient cap- ital, 49. Teocalli, the Aztec, 60, 323. Tepic, 415, 428, 431. Tequila (native brandy), 45. Texcoco, Lake, 49, 74, 81; Town of, 85. Thieves, 338-342. Tia Juana, 401-402, 434-435. Tierra Blanca, 130. Tierra caliente, 7, 94, 100-105, 128. Tierra fria, 6, 25. Tierra templada, 7, 93. Tlacolulu, 154. Tlacochahuaya, 154. Tolpetlac, Village of, 236. Toltecs, 12, 75; Gods of the, 308. Topo Chico, Springs of, 25. Topolobambo, 418. Torreon, 298, 400, 405. Tortillas, Making of, 178, 215. Transition, The, in Mexico, 456 ct seq. Travellers, Suggestions for, 481-483. Tropics, Vegetation of, 94, 100, 133; Need of, 110; Railroading in, 301-303. Tula, 439. Tule, Big Tree of, 153. Tzintzuntzan, 270. United States, War with, 359, 363. Uxmal, 441, 448-451. Valenciana, Conde de, 277. Valley of Mexico, View of, 35, 79, 87. Vera Cruz, 95-97, 297, 366, 387, 391; Fall of, 363; Es- cape of Diaz, at, 380. Vera Cruz and Pacific Rail- way, 131, 301, 481. Victoria Guadalupe, first pres- ident, 356. Viga canal, 82-84, 235. Villa Reyes, Great hacienda of, 29. Volcanos, Height of, 480. Vomito, 95-96. Wages of miners, 287; of labourers, 188. Wheat, Introduction of, 39. Woman, 133, 162 et seq.; The Creole, 165-166. Xaltocan, Lake, 74, Xochimilco, Lake, 74. Yaqui Indians, 427. Yellow Fever, 95-96. 492 Index Young Men's Christian Asso- ciation, 327. Yucatan, Ruins of, 146, 440 et seq.; Railways in, 306. Zacatecas, 36, 282, 298. Zambrano, a Mexican miner, 276. Zapotec Indians, 160. Zaragossa, General, Victory of, 37. Zocalo, The, 67, 68, 231. Zopilotes (buzzards), 97. Zuloaga Hacienda, 418-420. Zumarraga, Bishop, 258. Zumpango, Lake, 74, 79. ?A77-6