NOCHE TRISTE TREE.
I presume everybody who knows anything about history remembers reading
how Cortez, when he thought he was going to lose the fight for Mexico,
on July 10th, 1520, retired under a tree and wept.
Since that time the tree has been known to the inhabitants as the Noche
Triste (the sad night). It stands before an ancient chapel, in a public
square of the little village of Popotla. I don't know why, for I could
never think of Cortez except as a thieving murderer, but the Noche
Triste receives a great deal of attention from the natives and all the
tourists. On the second of May, 1872, the tree was found to be on fire.
A citizen of Popotla, Senor Jose Maria Enriquez, who venerated the old
relic, followed by hundreds of people, rushed to its rescue.
They did what they could with buckets, and at last two hand pumps were
brought from an adjoining college. It is said that fully five thousand
people visited the burning tree that day. After burning for twenty-four
hours the flames were conquered. Since then Noche Triste has been
inclosed by a high, iron fence; despite the fire it is yet a grand old
tree.
Everybody visits the cathedral of Mexico. It is a grand old building,
of enormous size, and covered with carved figures, facing the zocalo.
It is surrounded by well-kept gardens, in which are many beautiful
statues and ancient Aztec figures. In the cathedral is the tomb of the
Emperor Yturbide, and superb paintings, some by Murillo. The history of
the cathedral is interesting; it was the church of Santa Maria de la
Asuncion until January 31, 1545, when it was declared the metropolitan
cathedral of Mexico.
Philip II. issued a royal decree that the cathedral should correspond
to the magnificence of the city, and in 1573 the work was begun. It
occupies the very ground on which stood the principal temple of the
Aztecs; the site was bought from the Franciscan monks for forty dollars.
A period of forty-two years was consumed in laying the foundations,
raising the exterior walls, building the transverse walls of the
chapels, working the columns to the height of the capitals, and making
some progress upon the domes.
The architecture of this temple pertains to the Doric order. The
structure is one hundred and thirty-three Spanish yards in length, and
seventy-four in width. It has one hundred and seventy-four windows,
and is divided into five naves, the principal one of which measures
fifty-three feet in width from column to column. The aisles correspond
in number to the thirty-three chapels, formed by twenty pillars, ten
on each side; from base to capital the pillars measure fifty-four feet
in height, and fourteen in circumference. The roof is composed of
fifty-one domes or vaults, resting upon seventy-four arches. The church
is pyramidal in form, its height diminishing in regular proportion from
the main nave to the chapels. There are three entrance-doors on the
southern front, two on the northern, and two on each of the sides.
After ninety-five years of continual work, the final solemn dedication
was celebrated December 22, 1677.
The cost of the cathedral, exclusive of the external decoration, at
least of the Sagrario, amounted to $1,752.000, so that it may well
be said that two and a half million dollars were invested in the two
churches, whose erection extended over more than a century.
During my six months in Mexico I received hundreds of letters from men
asking my advice about their coming to Mexico for business purposes.
I never give advice, but if I were a man and had a certain amount of
patience I should go to Mexico. If one can get used to the people and
their _mauana_ movements, the place is perfect, The land, in most
localities, is the easiest imaginable to cultivate. A farmer can have
as many harvests a year as he has space. He can sow in one place and
harvest in another, so perfect is the climate. The only complaint is of
the lack of water, but as it is always to be found six feet under the
surface of the earth one can have it. Anything will grow if put in the
ground. I visited one place that had been barren three years previous,
and it was the most beautiful garden spot in Mexico. The trees were
equal to any nine year old trees in the States. There is no weather to
interfere with their growth.
A great number of Englishmen, Germans and French, have settled in
Mexico, and by their thrift are accumulating fortunes rapidly. Barring
a little dislike, the Americans have the same chances.
Mexico produces better broom-corn than the United States, and for
the smallest possible cost and trouble. Very few farmers interest
themselves in broom-corn, so there is a place for Americans to step in
and make money.
Silk culture could also be made one of Mexico's principal industries.
It can be carried on with little or no capital. Any one who possesses a
few mulberry tries can, without abandoning his regular work, care for
silk-worms. An ounce of silk-worm eggs costs five dollars, and it will
produce not less than fifty kilogrammes of cocoons that are worth one
dollar per kilogramme.
It is only necessary to buy eggs the first time, for the worms keep
producing them. The mulberry tree thrives in all parts of Mexico and
the silk worm needs no protection of any kind from the climate, nor
are they subjected to diseases here which elsewhere cause great loss.
It costs less to raise silk-worms in Mexico than in Europe, and a far
better quality are produced. Mulberry shoots will produce sufficient
foliage to maintain silk-worms within three years after planting.
The eggs, while containing the embryo silk-worm, have a dull lavender
color, but after discharging the worm they resembled little sugar
pills. The worms were about one-sixteenth of an inch long, but the
first week of moulting shows them to be half an inch long and the
second week one inch. For the third moulting they are placed on
perforated paper, through the holes of which the worms crawl. This
relieves the attendant of considerable labor in transferring them. The
fourth week the head is white, and the worm has attained its normal
growth. There is nothing now for the worm to do but leaf around and
lunch on mulberry leaves until the eighth or ninth day after shedding
its skin the fourth time, when he or she, as the case may be, proceeds
to form its cocoon. It is then of a golden transparent color. It takes
about five days for the industrious worm to finish its cocoon. Then,
to destroy the moth inside, it is subjected to heat, and the cocoon is
then ready for spinning.
When ready for use the cocoons are soaked in a tub of water until all
the glutinous substance is removed. With a small whisk-broom the cocoon
is brushed until ends, which are as fine as a cobweb, come loose. They
will then reel off without breaking. One cocoon will give four hundred
yards of raw silk.
Indian rubber trees are also easily cultivated in Mexico, and the
demand for them is large. It's easy to make a comfortable income in
Mexico, if one goes about it rightly.