same name, inhabited by thirty-three thousand individuals. BOOK At no great distance are nine lakes, which are covered with LXXXV. an efflorescence of muriate and carbonate of soda. Some of its mountains, composed of sienite, contain the richest veins in the world.* Guadalaxara may perhaps contain thirty thousand inhabitants, exclusive of Indians. It is the see of a bishop, and contains a university and a superior tribunal. The Rio San Juan, likewise called Tololotlan and Barania, on issuing from Lake Chapala, forms a very picturesque cataract.t Compostella is the chief place of a district, abounding in maize, cocoa-nut trees, and cattle. Tonala manufactures pottery for the consumption of the province. La Purification is likewise noticed as a considerable town, and the chief place of the southern part of New Gallicia. Cochineal and sugar are its chief productions. At some distance to the north-west, is Cape Corrientes, a boldly projecting point. The winds and currents appear to change their direction at this celebrated promontory. The port of San Blas, almost uninhabited on account of its insalubrity and its extreme heat, is surrounded by beautiful forests, the wood of which is made use of for the royal navy, which has here its principal establishment. The two intendencies of Guanaxuato and Valladolid, con- Mechoastitute the ancient kingdom of Mechoacan, which was inde- can, or the pendent of the Mexican Empire. intendencies of Gu anaxuato This kingdom, the name of which signifies the country and Vallaabounding with fish.§ contains volcanoes, hot and sulphure- dolid. ous springs, mines, and peaks of mountains white with snow; it is notwithstanding one of the most smiling and fertile countries that can possibly be beheld. Numerous lakes, forests, and cascades diversify the prospect. The mountains, covered with wood, leave a space for meadows *D. Garces, et D. Valentia, quoted by A. de Humboldt, II. 315, Alcedo, Diccionario, at the word Tonala. Gomara Nueva Espanna, Cap. 147. BOOK and fields. The air is healthy, except on the coast, where LXXXV. the Indians alone can resist the humid and suffocating inhabi tants. heat. Indigenous Of all the Americans the natives of this country were once the most dexterous marksmen with the bow and arrow. The Kings of Mechoacan formerly received their principal revenues in red feathers, of which carpets and other articles were manufactured. This curious trait calls to our recollection the inhabitants of Tongataboo. At the funeral of their Kings, they immolated seven females of noble family, and an immense number of slaves, for the purpose of ministering to the deceased in the other world. the present day however, the Indians, and especially the Tarasques, devote themselves to the labours of a peaceful industry. Towns. In Valladolid, the ancient Mechoacan, a very pretty town, and enlivened by considerable commerce, enjoys a delicious climate, and contains a population of eighteen hundred souls. The village of Tzinzontzan, on the picturesque banks of the lake Pazcuaro, was the residence of the ancient Kings of Mechoacan. Guanaxuato, a large town, of more than seventy thousand inhabitants, flourishes principally by its silver mines, the richest in Mexico. The mine of the Count de Valenciana was already in 1804, nineteen hundred and sixty English feet in perpendicular depth, which makes it the deepest mine at present existing on the face of the globe. The profits of this single mine amount to from 125,000 to 250,000 pounds sterling. The town of San Miguel-el-grande is engaged in an extensive trade in cattle, skins, cotton cloth, cutlery, knives, and other works in very fine steel. Celaya, the chief place of a district, which produces two kinds of pepper, has recently had a magnificent church built in it by the Carmelites, and ornamented with Corinthian and Ionic colonnades.‡ Gomara, Nueva-Espanna p. 217. in Barcia, Historiadores, t. II. A. de Humboldt, Mexico, II. 286. The inten The intendency of Mexico, the principal province of the BOOK Empire of Montezuma, formerly extended from one sea to LXXXV. the other; but the district of Panuco, having been separated from it, it no longer reaches the gulf of Mexico. The dency of eastern part, situated on the plateau, contains several val- Mexico. leys of a round figure; in the centre of which there are lakes at present dried up, but whose waters appear formerly to have filled these basins. Dry and deprived of its wood, this plateau is at once subject to an habitual aridity and to sudden inundations, occasioned by heavy rains and the melting of the snow. Generally speaking, the temperature is not so hot as it is in Spain; in fact, it enjoys a perpetual spring. The mountains with which it is surrounded still abound in cedars and other lofty trees, in gums, drugs, salts, metallic productions, marbles, and precious stones. The flat country is covered the whole year through with delicate and exquisite fruits, lint, hemp, cotton, tobacco, aniseed, sugar, and cochineal, with which they support an extensive commerce. curiosities. Besides the numerous volcanoes of which we have al- Natural ready spoken, some natural curiosities are met with. One of the most remarkable is the Ponte- Dios, or the bridge of God, a rock, under which the water has hollowed itself a canal, situated about 100 miles to the south-east of Mexico, near the village of Molcaxac, on the deep river Aquetoyac. Along this natural bridge, the traveller may continue his journey as if he were on high road. Several cataracts present a romantic appearance. The great cavern of Dante, traversed by a river; the porphyritic organpipes of Actopan; and many other singular objects excite the astonishment of the traveller in this mountainous region, where he is obliged to cross foaming rivers upon bridges formed of the fruit of the Crescentia pinnata, tied together with ropes of Agave. Mexico, On the very ridge of the great Mexican plateau, a chain City of of porphyritic mountains encloses an oval valley, the general level of which is elevated 6700 feet above the surface of the ocean. Five lakes fill the middle of this valley. LXXXV. BOOK To the north of the united lakes of Xochimilco, and Chalco, on the eastern side of the lake Tezcuco, once stood the ancient city of Mexico, to which the traveller arrived by causeways constructed on the shallow bottom of the lake. The new city, although placed on the same spot, is situated on firm ground, and at a considerable distance from the lakes, the waters of which have retired, and the town is still intersected by numerous canals, and the public edifices are erected on piles. The draining of the lakes is further continued, by means of a canal which has been opened for that purpose, through the mountains of Sincoq. in order to protect the town from inundations. In many places, however, the ground is still soft, and some buildings, amongst others the cathedral, have sunk six feet. The streets are wide and straight, but badly paved. The houses present a magnificent appearance, being built of porphyry and amygdaloid. Several palaces and private mansions have a majestic effect, and its churches glitter with metallic riches. The cathedral surpasses, in this respect, all the churches of the world; the balustrade which surrounds the great altar being composed of massive silver. A lamp of the same metal, is of so vast a size that three men go into it when it has to be cleaned; and it is enriched with lions heads, and other ornaments, of pure gold. The statues of the Virgin and the saints are either made of solid silver, or richly gilded, and ornamented with precious stones. Palaces, mansions of great families, beautiful fountains, and extensive squares, adorn the interior of this city. To the north, near the suburbs, is the principal public promenade, or Alameda. Round this walk flows a rivulet, forming a fine square, in the middle of which there is a basin with a fountain. Eight alleys of trees terminate here, in the figure of a star. But in consequence of an unfortunate proximity, immediately in front of the Alameda, the eye discovers the Quemadero, a place where Jews and other victims of the terrible Iquisition, were burned alive. This detestable tribunal was finally abolished by the Ex-emperor Augustin Iturbide in 1820; and this same tion; man enterprising individual, who, during his short reign, formed BOOK Lancastrian schools over the empire, has been the cause of LXXXV. the fine building, formerly appropriated to its operations, having been converted at present into a polytechnic school.* Although the city of Mexico is situated in the interior of the country, still it forms the centre of an immense commerce between Vera Cruz on the east, and Acapulco on the west. The shops are absolutely overflowing with gold, silver, and Civilizajewels. This superb town, inhabited by 140,000 people, is ners. likewise distinguished by great scientific establishments, to which, in the New World, there is nothing similar. The botanical garden, the school of mines, the academy of the fine arts, which has produced excellent draughtsmen, painters, and sculptors, these are the establishments that refute the prejudices of persons who consider the Americans as inferior in natural capacity to Europeans. The fine arts have, it seems, suffered incalculably by the revolution. There is not now a single pupil in the academy; and its late president is now old, and blind, and poor; nor could Mr. Bullock, by profession a collector, pick up above four specimens in all Mexico worth the carriage to Europe. This slight reverse of Humboldt's immortal picture of that country, is however agreeably compensated by another, the increased happiness of the lower orders, particularly of the Indians. In the fine evenings, during the dry season, the environs of the city present a scene of pleasure, gaiety, and bustle, scarcely to be paralleled; hundreds of canoes, on the canal of Chalco, of various sizes, mostly with awnings, crowded with native Indians neatly dressed, and their heads crowned with the most gaudy flowers, are seen passing in every direction; each boat, with its musician seated on the stern, playing on the guitar, and some of the party singing, dancing, or both united, presents such a picture of harmless mirth, "as I fear," says Mr. Bullock, "is rarely to be met with at the fairs and wakes of our own country." Revolution has bad + Compare p. 309, 311, above. *Bullock, p. 150. |