An Extinct Volcano.--Mexican Mountains.--The Public Institutions of
the Capital.--The Government Palace.--The Museum.--Maximilian's
State Carriage.--A Peculiar Plant.--The Academy of Fine Arts.--
Choice Paintings.--Art School.--Picture Writing.--Native Artists.
--Exquisite Pottery.--Cortez's Presents to Charles V.--A Special
Aztec Art.--The Sacrificial Stone.--Spanish Historical Authorities.
--Public Library.--The Plaza.--Flower Market.--A Morning Visit.--
Public Market.--Concealed Weapons.
The crater of Popocatepetl--being an extinct volcano--is now a valuable
sulphur mine. To obtain this product, it is necessary to descend into
the crater by means of a rope, one of great length being required for
the purpose; and when a certain quantity is secured, it is packed in
mats before being hoisted to the mouth of the crater. The Indians tie
these packages together; then, making a cushion of their serapes, they
slide down the mountain as far as the snow extends, dragging the mats
after them. On the north side of the volcano, near the limit of tree
growth, the sulphur is distilled in iron retorts, and is then ready for
the market. The crater's mouth is huge in dimensions, being half a mile
in diameter, and the amount of native sulphur deposited there is
enormous,--practically inexhaustible. This profitable sulphur mine is
owned, or was, a few months since, by General Ochoa, a resident of the
capital. It is said that when Cortez had expended his supply of
gunpowder, he resorted to the crater of Popocatepetl for sulphur to make
a fresh supply, and that the natives had never ascended the mountain
until the Spaniards showed them the way. Earthquakes are not uncommon,
even to-day, near the base of this monarch mountain; but no eruption has
taken place since 1692. Earthquakes have always been more or less common
in Mexico, but never very serious in the capital; otherwise, with its
insecure foundations, it must have suffered seriously. Smoke is reported
to have been seen bursting forth from the crater of Popocatepetl several
times at long intervals, but no positive volcanic action has taken place
since the date named. Its actual height is given by the best authorities
as being but about two hundred feet less than eighteen thousand.
One is apt to speculate mentally, while gazing upon it, as to the
possibility of this sleeping volcano one day awaking to destructive
action. That it still lives is clearly seen by the smoke and sulphurous
breath which it exhales, and the occasional significant earthquakes
which occur about its widespread base. There are seventeen or eighteen
mountains in the republic which rise more than ten thousand feet above
the level of the sea, four of which are over fifteen thousand feet in
height, Popocatepetl being the loftiest of them all. Parties ascend on
horseback to the snow line, and from thence the distance to the summit
is accomplished on foot. Some adventurous people make the descent into
the crater by means of the bucket and windlass used by the
sulphur-gatherers, but the most inquisitive can see all that they desire
from the northerly edge of the cone. The expeditions for the ascent are
made up at Amecameca. The time necessarily occupied is about three days,
and the cost is twenty-five dollars for each person. It is a very
exhausting excursion, and few persons undertake it.
The city of Mexico is famous for its large numbers of scientific,
literary, and charitable institutions, its many schools, primary and
advanced, and its several well-appointed hospitals. The national palace
covers the whole eastern side of the Plaza Mayor, having a frontage of
nearly seven hundred feet, and occupies the site of the royal residence
of the Montezumas, if we may credit tradition. The present edifice was
erected in 1693, in place of one which Cortez and the Spanish viceroys
had occupied until it was destroyed by fire in 1692. Though the palace
is only two stories in height, yet the central tower over the main
entrance and the finish on each side of it give it all necessary
prominence. It contains the President's suite of rooms, and those
devoted to the various departments of the state officials. The hall of
ambassadors, a very long, narrow apartment, is interesting on account of
its life-size portraits of Mexican rulers from the period of
independence, a majority of whom either endured exile or public
execution! At the extreme end of this hall is a very good full-length
portrait of our Washington. Here, also, is a pretentious battle-piece by
a native artist, representing the battle of Puebla, when the French
were so completely defeated. The picture is entitled "Cinco de Mayo,"
the date of the conflict. It is not a fine specimen of art, but it is
certainly a very effective picture. This battle of the 5th of May was
another Waterloo for the French. An apartment known as Maximilian's room
is shown to the visitor, situated in the corner of the palace, having
two windows at right angles and thus commanding a view in two
directions, one window overlooking the plaza, the other the business
streets leading to the market. A room called the hall of Iturbide is
hung in rich crimson damask, displaying the eagle and serpent, which
form the arms of Mexico. The edifice contains also the General
Post-office and the National Museum. In the armory of the palace there
was pointed out to us the stand of arms with which the Archduke
Maximilian and his two faithful officers were shot at Queretaro. In the
grounds which form the patio of the palace, a small botanical garden is
maintained, containing many exotics, choice trees and plants, besides a
collection of those indigenous to the country. The curiosities in the
department of antiquity of the museum are of intense interest. In an
historical point of view they are invaluable. A great amount of money
and intelligent labor has been expended upon the collection with highly
satisfactory results. It is of engaging interest to the merest museum
frequenter, but to the archaeologist it is valuable beyond expression.
Here are also deposited the extensive solid silver table-service
imported for his own use by Maximilian, and also the ridiculously gilded
and bedizened state carriage brought hither from Europe, built after
the English style of the seventeenth century. The body of the vehicle is
painted red, the wheels are gilded, and the interior is lined with white
silk brocade, heavily trimmed with silver and gold thread. It surpasses
in elegance and cost any royal vehicle to be seen in Europe, not
excepting the magnificent carriages in the royal stables of Vienna and
St. Petersburg. Among the personal relics seen in the museum is the coat
of mail worn by Cortez during his battles from Vera Cruz to the capital,
also the silk banner which was borne in all his fights. This small flag
bears a remarkably lovely face of the Madonna, which must have been the
work of a master hand. The shield of Montezuma is also exhibited, with
many arms, jewels, and picture writings, these last relating to historic
matters, both Toltec and Aztec. The great sacrificial stone of the
aborigines, placed on the ground floor of the museum, is, in all its
detail, a study to occupy one for days. It is of basalt, elaborately
chiseled, measuring nine feet in diameter and three feet in height. On
this stone the lives of thousands of human beings, we are told, were
offered up annually. The municipal palace is on the south side of the
plaza, nearly opposite to which is a block of buildings resting upon
arcades like those of the Rue Rivoli in Paris. Let us not forget to
mention that in the garden of the national palace the visitor is shown a
remarkable floral curiosity called the hand-tree, covered with bright
scarlet flowers, almost exactly in the shape of the human hand. This is
the _Cheirostemon platanifolium_ of the botanists, an extremely rare
plant, three specimens of which only are known to exist in Mexico.
In the rear of the national palace is the Academy of Fine Arts,
generally spoken of as the Academy of San Carlos,--named in honor of
Carlos III. of Spain,--which contains three or four well-filled
apartments of paintings, with one and, in some instances, two pictures
each of such masters as Leonardo da Vinci, Velasquez, Titian, Van Dyck,
Rubens, Perugino, and others. There is also a large hall of sculpture
attached, which presents casts of many well-known and classic originals.
This department, however, does not compare well with the rest of the
institution. The art gallery will be sure to greatly interest the
stranger, as being the foundation of an institution evidently destined
in time to reach a high degree of excellence. Besides possessing several
priceless examples by the old masters, there are many admirable
pictures, the result of native talent, which are remarkable for their
conception and execution. Two large canvases by Jose Maria Velasco,
representing the Valley of Mexico, form fine and striking landscapes
which few modern painters can equal. These two paintings were exhibited
at the Philadelphia Exposition, and won high encomiums. In our
estimation, the gem of the galleries is, unquestionably, the large
canvas by Felix Parra, a native artist. It is entitled "Las Casas
protecting the Aztecs from slaughter by the Spaniards." This young
artist, not yet much over thirty years of age, has given us in this
picture an original conception most perfectly carried out, which has
already made him famous. It was painted before Parra had ever seen any
other country except Mexico, but it won for him the first prize at the
Academy of Rome. The original painting was exhibited at the New Orleans
Exposition not long since, eliciting the highest praise from art
critics. It is worthy of being placed in the Louvre or the Uffizi. One
canvas, entitled "The Dead Monk," attracted us as being singularly
effective. The scene represents several monks, with tapers in their
hands, surrounding the dead body of a brother of their order. The dim
light illumines the scared faces of the group, as it falls upon the
calm, white features of the dead. The masterly handling of color in this
picture has rarely been excelled.
The Academy of San Carlos contains an art school free to the youth of
the city, and is subsidized by government to the amount of thirty-five
thousand dollars per annum. As we passed through the galleries, a large
class of intelligent-looking boys, whose age might have ranged from
twelve to fifteen years, were busily engaged with their pencils and
drawing-paper in copying models placed before them, under the
supervision of a competent instructor. It was pleasant to see the
democratic character of this assemblage of pupils. All classes were
represented. The school is as free to the son of a peon as to him with
the richest of parents. Prizes are given for meritorious work by the
students; one annual prize is especially sought for, namely, an
allowance of six hundred dollars a year for six years, to enable the
recipient to study art abroad. The institution is in a reasonably
flourishing condition, but it lacks the stimulus of an appreciative
community to foster its growth and to incite emulation among its pupils.
Strangers visit, admire, and applaud, but native residents exhibit
little or no enthusiasm for this nucleus of the fine arts in the
national capital. The encouragement offered to artists in any line in
Mexico is extremely small. There can hardly be said to be any home
demand for their products. There is one other canvas, seen in the
galleries, which comes back to memory, and of which it is a pleasure to
speak in commendation. The artist's name has escaped us, but the
admirable and effective picture represented "Columbus contemplating the
Sea."
Art should certainly be at home in Mexico, where it has found expression
in various forms for hundreds of years. What were the picture-writings
of the aborigines but early examples of art? There are numerous
specimens of Aztec paintings illustrative of the early history of
Mexico, which were produced long before the arrival of the conquering
Spaniards. Some of these on deerskin, and some on a sort of parchment,
or papyrus, which the Toltecs and Aztecs made from the leaves of the
maguey plant, may be seen in European museums. They show that the arts
of metal casting and the manufacture of cotton and of jewelry were
derived from the Toltecs by the Aztecs. There are plenty of examples to
be seen showing that these aborigines were admirable workers in silver
and gold. So eager was Cortez to send large sums of gold to his
sovereign, and thus to win royal forgiveness and countenance as regarded
his gross insubordination in stealing away from Cuba, and in boldly
taking upon himself all the prerogatives of a viceroy, that he not only
extorted every ounce of gold dust he could possibly obtain from the
natives of the conquered provinces, but he melted many of their
beautiful and precious ornaments into more available shape for his
purpose. Some of these he transmitted to Spain, where, in course of
time, they also shared the same fate. The aggregate sum thus sent by him
to Spain, as given in the records of the period, was so large as to
provoke our incredulity. Were specimens of those golden ornaments, the
product of Toltec and Aztec art, now extant, they would be worth fifty
times their weight in gold, and form tangible links of history
connecting the present with the far past. This native art has been
handed down from generation to generation; and there is nothing of the
sort made in the world superior to Mexican silver filigree work, which
recalls the lace-like texture of similar ornaments manufactured at
Genoa. Again, illustrative of this natural instinct for art in the
aborigines, let us not forget to speak of the colored straw pictures
produced by the Indian women, representing natural scenery and prominent
buildings, done with wonderful fidelity, even in the matter of
perspective. Statuettes or wax figures are also made by them,
representing the native laboring classes and street scenes to the very
life. This is a sort of specialty in Naples; but we have never seen one
of these small Italian figures superior to those which one can buy in
the stores on San Francisco Street in Mexico, all of which are the work
of untaught native Indians. While we are writing these lines, there
stands upon our library table a specimen of Mexican pottery which we
brought from Guadalajara. It is of an antique pattern, made by hand in
an Indian mud cabin, beautifully decorated and glazed, combining colors
which mingle in perfect harmony. This is not an organized industry here.
Each family produces its own ware for sale; and no two pieces can be
exactly similar. No people, unless possessed of a high degree of
artistic instinct and appreciation, could produce pottery, either in
shape or finish, such as the traveler sees at Guadalajara.
We are told that the ancient Aztecs excelled in one branch of art above
all others; namely, in the production of scenes and various
ornamentations in feather work, the effect of which is similar to
Florentine mosaic. The gorgeous plumage of the humming-bird and of
parrots was especially devoted to this object. The feathers, glued upon
a cotton web, were made into dresses for the wealthy to wear on festal
occasions. The gradations and brilliancy of these feather pictures are
said to have been marvelous. There is preserved in the museum at the
national capital a vestment of this character, said to have been worn by
Montezuma II. Antonio de Solis, royal historiographer, speaks of "a
quantity of plumes and other curiosities made from feathers," by the
Aztecs, "whose beauty and natural variety of colors, found on the native
birds of the country, were placed and combined with wonderful art,
distributing the several colors and shadowing the light with the dark so
exactly, that, without making use of artificial colors or of the pencil,
they could draw pictures, and would undertake to imitate nature." One is
constantly importuned, in the patio of the Iturbide Hotel, to purchase
figures and small landscapes newly made of these brilliant feathers,
offered at a very moderate price. Indeed, their production forms quite
an industry among a certain class of Indians. So it seems that this art
has been inherited; there being no present market for such elaborate
examples as used to be produced, the fine artistic ability of centuries
past is neither demanded, nor does it exist. According to one Spanish
authority (Clavigero), so abundant were sculptured images that the
foundation of the cathedral on the Plaza Mayor is entirely composed of
them! Another writer of the same nationality (Gama) says that a new
cellar cannot be dug in the capital without turning up some of the
mouldering relics of barbaric art. As cellars cannot be dug at all on
account of the mere crust of earth existing above the water, this
veracious historian could not have written from personal knowledge, or
have visited the country. It is these irresponsible writers who have
made "history" to suit their own purposes. Father Torquemada surpasses
Baron Munchausen when he tells us that, at the dedication of a certain
aboriginal temple, a procession of persons two miles long, numbering
seventy-two thousand, perished on the sacrificial stone, which is now
exhibited in the National Museum of Mexico. This stone, by the way, is
to our mind clearly Toltec, not Aztec. Examination shows it to be
identical with the stone relics of Tula, the original capital of the
Toltecs. The same may be said of the "Calendar Stone," placed in the
outer walls of the cathedral.
The National Conservatory of Music, dating from January 25, 1553, is
near at hand; so also is the National Library, where the admirable
collection of books numbers nearly two hundred thousand. The confiscated
convent of Saint Augustine serves as an appropriate building for this
library of choice books. We say of choice books, not only because they
are many of them unique, but because all books are choice, being sources
from which the careful student and historian can cull true history and
philosophy. He does not accept each and all of the statements which are
here presented, but from the collated mass culls the truthful
deductions. These books very largely and very naturally relate to
religious subjects, as they are mostly made up from the confiscated
convent libraries heretofore existing in Mexico. Valuable modern and
secular books have been added to these collections from time to time.
Our attention was called to a volume bearing the date of 1472, and to
one still older which was printed in two colors. There is here an atlas
of England which was printed in Amsterdam in 1659, with steel plates,
and in colors which are as bright and fresh as though just from the
press. A Spanish and Mexican dictionary, printed in Mexico in 1571,
showed how early the printing-press followed the period of the
conquest. A book of autographs bearing the names of Cortez's notable
soldiers was interesting. This, we understood, was one of the
much-coveted prizes which has been sought by foreign collectors. The
manuscripts are of great antiquity and interest. One was in the form of
a large volume, done with the pen in old English letters; another, very
highly prized, is of painted pictures, which purports to be original
dispatches from Montezuma to his allies, and which was captured by
Cortez. This last is on a roll of prepared deerskin. The richly-carved
front of the library is a profound study in itself, and is the work of a
native artist. The fence which incloses the edifice is ornamented with
marble busts of famous scientists, orators, and authors, while beautiful
flowers grace the small plot in front, the whole made refreshingly cool
by the playing of a small fountain. This library contains books in all
languages, and bearing dates of four hundred years since. Some of these
books are almost priceless in value, very old, and believed to be
unique. We were told that an agent of the British Museum, who came
thousands of miles for the purpose, had offered a fabulous price for
some half a dozen volumes on the shelves of the National Library of
Mexico; but he offered the princely sum in vain,--a fact which speaks
well for those in authority. The library has no systematic arrangement
and no catalogue.
The Plaza Mayor must be fully a thousand feet square. It was laid out
and beautified under the personal direction of the youthful, handsome,
and would-be empress, Carlotta, who exhibited exquisite taste in such
matters, and hesitated at no cost to carry out her imperial will, freely
expending from her private fortune for the purpose. In the centre of the
plaza is the Zacalo, so called, screened with groups of orange-trees,
choice shrubbery, and flowers. Here there is a music stand and fountain,
where frequent out-of-door concerts are given by military bands,
especially in the evenings. At the western side of the square, under the
shadow of the cathedral, is the flower market, rendering the whole
neighborhood fragrant in the early mornings with the perfume it exhales,
while it delights the eye with hillocks of bright color. This market is
in an iron pavilion covered in part with glass, the lovely goods
presided over by nut-brown women and pretty Indian girls. Barbaric as
the Aztecs were, they had a true love and tenderness for flowers, using
them freely in their religious rites, a taste which three hundred years
and more of oppression, together with foreign and civil wars, has not
served to extinguish. The most abundant specimens of the floral kingdom
one meets with here are red and white roses, very finely developed,
pinks of all colors, violets, mignonette, heliotrope, scarlet and white
poppies, pansies, and forget-me-nots. Such flowers were artistically
mingled in large bouquets, with a delicate backing of maiden-hair fern,
and sold for fifteen cents each. There is no fixed tariff of prices,
strangers naturally paying much more than the residents, and the sum
first demanded being usually double what will be finally received,--a
manner of trade which is by no means confined to the Spanish-speaking
races. It must be remembered that although, these are cultivated
flowers, still they bloom out-of-doors all the year round. The women
venders emulate their lovely wares in the colors they assume in their
costumes. The dahlia, we are told, first came from the valley of Mexico.
The universal love of flowers finds expression in the houses, not only
of the rich, but in those of the very humble poor, all over the town and
the environs.
It was interesting to note the special class of customers drawn in the
early morning to this flower pagoda. These were the true lovers of
Flora, bent upon securing their favorites while damp with dewy
sweetness. There was the very humble but appreciative purchaser, who
invested only a few centavos, but took away a choice collection of
bright colors and of mingled fragrance. Here was an ardent lover, all
eagerness, who would write his words of devotion to his idol in the
alphabet of angels. Now and then an American tourist was seen to carry
away an armful of bouquets to bestow with impartial hand among his lady
friends. Looking on at the suggestive scene is a scantily-clad Indian
girl, with a curious hungry expression upon her face. Is it flowers or
food that she craves? She shall have both. How rich the color of her
cheek; how eloquent the expression of her dark eyes; how grateful her
hesitating smile, as she receives from the stranger a piece of silver
and a cluster of flowers!
On the open space in front of the cathedral a sort of daily fair is
held, where a most incongruous trade is carried on amid great
confusion; but there are no more male and female slaves offered for sale
here, as in the days of the Spanish victors. Slavery existed both under
Aztec and Spanish rule; but it was abolished, as an institution, soon
after the establishment of Mexican independence. The match boys,
lottery-ticket venders, fruit men, ice-cream hawkers, cigar and
cigarette dealers, and candy women (each with a baby tied to her back),
rend the air with their harsh and varied cries, while the stranger is
quickly discovered, and importuned to the verge of endurance. We were
told that this army of hawkers and peddlers were allowed just in the
shadow of the church by special permit, a percentage of the benefit
derived from the sales accruing to the priests, who carry on their
profession inside the walls of the grand and beautiful edifice, where a
less noisy, but quite as commercial a performance is going on all the
while, "indulgences" being bartered and sold to moneyed sinners nearly
every hour of the day.
The principal market-place has always been near the plaza, at its
southwest end, a single block away; but a new and more spacious one is
in course of erection at this writing, progress being made in the usual
_manana_ style. Sunday morning is the great market day of the week, the
same as in all Mexican cities, when there is here a confusion of tongues
that would silence the hubbub of the Paris Bourse. How a legitimate
business can be accomplished under such circumstances is a marvel. Each
line of trade has its special location, but confusion reigns supreme.
In passing through the Calle de San Francisco, we were struck with the
difference of temperature between the sunny and the shady sides of the
street. It must have been fully ten degrees. One becomes uncomfortably
warm while walking in the sunshine, but upon crossing into the shade he
is quickly chilled by the frostiness of the still, dry atmosphere and a
realizing sense of dampness beneath his feet. "Only dogs and Americans
walk on the sunny side," say the Mexicans. To this we can only answer by
commending the discretion of both men and beasts. In the early evening,
as soon as the sun sets, the natives begin to wrap up their throats and
faces, even in midsummer. Yet they seem to avoid the sun while it shines
in the middle of the day.
In New Zealand and Alaska, when two natives meet each other and desire
to express pleasure at the circumstance, they rub their noses together.
In Mexico, if two gentlemen meet upon the street or elsewhere after a
considerable absence, they embrace cordially and pat each other on the
back in the most demonstrative manner, just as two parties fall on each
other's neck in a stage embrace. To a cool looker-on this seemed rather
a waste of the raw material, taking place between two individuals of the
same sex. In Japan, two persons on meeting in public begin bowing their
bodies until the forehead nearly touches the ground, repeating this
movement a score of times. In China, two gentlemen who meet greet each
other by shaking their own left hand in their right. In Norway and
Sweden, the greeting is made by taking off and replacing the hat half a
dozen times; the greater number of times, the more cordial is the
greeting considered; but in Mexico it is nothing more nor less than an
embrace with both arms.
The carrying of concealed weapons is prohibited by law in the United
States and some other countries, but in Mexico a statute is not
permitted to be simply a dead letter. While we were at the Iturbide, the
police of the capital were vigorously enforcing a new law, which forbids
the carrying of any sort of deadly weapon except in open sight. The
common people were being searched for knives, of which, when found, they
were instantly deprived, so that at one of the police stations there was
a pile of these articles six feet high and four wide. They were in all
manner of shapes, short and long, sharp and dull, daggerlike or
otherwise, but all worn for the purpose either of assault or defense.
They came from the possession of the humble natives, who could not plead
that they kept them for domestic uses or for eating purposes, since they
use neither knife nor fork in that process. We were told that this
wholesale seizure had been going on for a month or more, the police
stopping any person whom they chose in order to search them in the
street. Such a thing as resistance is not thought of by a peon; he knows
that it is of no sort of use, and will be the cause of sending him to
prison immediately. Quarrels at low drinking places are no longer
followed by the use of knives. It was the frequency of these assaults
which filled the hospitals with victims and caused the passage of a law
which meets the exigencies of the case. The fine for carrying concealed
weapons is heavy, besides involving the penalty of imprisonment. A
certain class of persons coming from out of the city are permitted to
carry revolvers, but they must be in a belt and in full sight. Probably
no municipal law was ever more thoroughly enforced than this of
disarming the common class of this city.
The tramway facilities are so complete in the city of Mexico that one
has very little occasion to employ hackney coaches. Sometimes, however,
these will be found, if not absolutely necessary, yet a great
convenience. The legal charges are very moderate, and may well be so,
for the entire turnout is usually of a most broken-down character,--poor
horses, or mules, a stupid driver, and a dirty interior, with such a
variety of offensive smells as to cause one to enter into an analysis to
decide which predominates. One dollar an hour is the average charge made
for these vehicles, the driver expecting, as in similar cases in Paris,
Berlin, or elsewhere, a trifle as a _pourboire_ at the end of the
service for which he is engaged. Where these ruinous structures which
pass for public carriages originally came from is a conundrum; but there
can be no possible doubt as to their antiquity. Mexican fleas, like
those of Naples and continental Spain, are both omnivorous and
carnivorous, and these vehicles are apt to be itinerant asylums for this
pest of the low latitudes. There are three grades of hackney coaches in
the capital, those comparatively decent, another class one degree less
desirable, and a third into which one will get when compelled to do so,
not otherwise. Each of these grades is designated by a small metal sign
in the shape of a flag, of a certain color, and the charges are
graduated accordingly. As to the drivers, they are not such outright
swindlers as those of their tribe in New York, nor by any means so tidy
and intelligent as those of Boston.