Guadalajara is a beautiful city, of an hundred thousand people, laid out
in broad, regular streets, with solid and imposing houses, painted
outside gaily in frescoes--and plazas, fountains, shady alamedas, richly
adorned churches, and fine public buildings. It is the capital of the
populous province of Jalisco, famed for its wealth, and only second in
importance to the city of Mexico itself. The crowds of well-dressed
pedestrians that thronged the streets and squares, the well-appointed
troops, elegance of the buildings, and smart appearance of equipages and
dashing horsemen, all gave the air, even at a rapid glance, of great
ease and opulence.
The gentleman to whom I was endorsed, Senor Llamas, had been in early
life an _arriero_, but by the force of merit and ability he had urged
himself to his level, and became a person of immense wealth, universally
respected, and occupying a place of high judicial trust under the state.
He possessed more energy, quickness and enthusiasm, than any Mexican I
met with, before or since. After arranging in the minutest details
everything for my comfort and speed on the road, I went to a very good
stopping-place, the _Fonda de Diligencia_. Here I bathed, and slept
until the streets became noisy with vehicles and horses passing for the
afternoon's drive. Facing my balcony, in an opposite dwelling, there
appeared a lady of exceeding beauty, or, as the porter of the hotel
told me in reply to my exclamation, _Si Senor! bonita como un
peso_--lovely as a dollar. She first appeared at the gilt-railed balcony
in the dishabille of the country, that is, with only skirts of the
dress--the sleeves and bodice hanging down in front; leaving the person
from waist up only slightly concealed by the camisetta, which half
reveals and half hides the shoulders and bosom. One must be blind,
indeed, not to become something of a connoisseur in female beauty, after
residing any length of time in Mexico; for the flimsy veil, which is
usually worn in the day by all classes of women, only serves, by the
pliant grace of their movements, to render their forms more defined and
attractive. But to return to my vis-a-vis. At a second visit to the
balcony, the bodice was laced, and superb masses of hair fell like a
dark cloud over neck and arms. At a later period the toilette was
completed, with a lace mantilla, and her tresses braided in two long
plaits. A dear little baby was crowing upon her breast, and the
beautiful Senora amused herself by entwining and knotting the braids of
her hair under the infant's arms, when she swung the little fellow to
and fro, in the most graceful manner conceivable. I never beheld so
charming a duet. The bell sounded for dinner--there was a well-set
table, and among a number of pleasant conversible persons, I made the
acquaintance of a particularly intelligent and amiable priest, who very
kindly acted as cicerone in my after rambles. We rose from the table
d'hote as the military band began the night's performance in the plaza.
The marble-paved paths and the benches were filled before we got there,
and we found some difficulty in getting places; but when my cigar got
fairly under way, and eyes widely open, I did and do still take it upon
me to affirm, that no town in the universe can boast of so much female
beauty. Not only were they in fives, but fifties. My friend, the little
Padre, appeared to be very generally beloved. Nearly all paused a moment
to say a kind word or greeting, and thus I had a clear chance of
observing the pretty throngs that swept by. They were so tastefully
attired in full flowing and becoming skirts, with no awkward stays or
corsets to cramp the grace of motion--the coquettish _ribosa_, never
quiet an instant, but changing its silken folds, and half revealing the
glancing neck and arm!--the hair, too; such hair! _ay de mi!_ no odious
bonnets to conceal God's fair handiwork!--then their arched tiny feet,
kissing the marble pavement, with so firm, so light, yet dignified a
tread--and then the elders, sailing majestically astern of their lovely
convoys--like ships of the line--regarding with wary eyes privateers in
disguise of gay young cavaliers, crossing their track. _Hola!_ what
blockade could intercept those softly audible murmurs! or the light
downy touch of dimpled fingers, quick as a swallow's kiss to his mate!
or, more than all, withstand the languid, lightning glances flashed from
their upper deck of eyes! _Ave purissima!_ the waking hours by day, and
sleepless ones by night, that Spanish maidens have caused me! "I'm not a
lover now," but still, I derived great consolation in admiring these
sweet doncellas; and fearing a relapse to former maladies, I shook hands
with the Padre, buckled on spurs and sabre, and as the cathedral bell
was tolling ten, I was leaving Guadalajara, with its blaze of lights and
beauty, behind me.
Taking the main road for three hours, we crossed the Great Bridge, and
turning to the north, struck the route of the Haciendas, which in lieu
of smooth travelling and robbers, possessed the advantages of safety,
and a more direct communication to the interior. At daylight, we had
ridden nineteen leagues, on capital animals, who never once slackened
the reins in their mouths. I was not only indebted to Don Domingo for
these excellent adjuncts to my journey, but for a few written lines
also, to divers persons along the road, which seemed to infuse them with
a portion of their master's energy; besides, he had sent his own trusty
courier with me as guide. This was an old man of sixty, strong, active,
and honest: in youth he had proved himself a brave soldier; in virtue of
which he was permitted to carry--besides his carbine--a long lance, and
pennon that fluttered in the breeze. He frequently went without sleep,
for three days and nights successively, when riding express for his
patron. I made old Cypriano my commissary, and he always became
frightfully incensed, when called upon to pay more than he deemed the
service demanded; but again he would laugh heartily, when urging a beast
that had been overcharged, with a lash and a kick at every leap--which
he called taking a medios worth. Indeed Cypriano, from long riding, had
become a little callous, in thus visiting the sins of the masters upon
the beasts, and believed in the superstition, that hired horses had no
souls.
The face of the country was fast losing its abruptness; mountains were
verging into hills with table tops, and long sweeping undulations
stretching away in the hazy distance. It was very open, fertile, and
well-tilled, but neither wooded, nor so profusely watered as the lands
seaward of Guadalajara.
Early in the afternoon we entered the little town of Tepantitlan, where
a huge wheezing gentleman gave me a brute troubled with his own
complaint, but transferring him to the treatment of Doctor Cypriano, we
then got on in fine style. The night was far advanced when we reached a
round, portly mountain, called Cerro Gordo; where tarrying at a small
settlement, the keeper of a rancho surlily resisted opening his gateway,
until he heard the talismanic name of Don Domingo--then the door nearly
flew off the hinges. A relay was, with some delay and trouble, procured,
when again in the saddle. The road was stony and tortuous, so that we
had thirteen tedious leagues to crawl and stumble over. Gladly we threw
ourselves from the fagged-out beasts, and sought the residence of a
good-natured paisano, owning a large rancho, a large wife, and two large
daughters. Giving orders to be called in an hour, my spurs were no
sooner unclasped than I fell into heavy slumber, on a low bed beneath an
image of the virgin. When the time had expired, I was aroused by my
faithful guide. One of the girls was seated on the ground, near the
fire, with a stone trough and roller before her, busily employed with a
batch of unleavened dough, of which, when consistently kneaded, she
would catch up a dab, press it between the palms, and as the mass
enlarged she began patting and tossing it from hand to hand until it
spread into round, thin cakes; they were then laid upon a flat piece of
sheet-iron, and browned over the fire; these were _tortillas_: they have
a taste like the oaten-cakes in Scotland, and are not particularly
palatable to a young practitioner. A chicken had also been grilled on
sticks, which, with a mixture they called coffee, served me for
breakfast.
Horses were ready in the corral, and saying adios to the fat family, we
galloped, away. A bathe in a roadside brook, and two changes of beasts,
and at three in the afternoon we toiled slowly over some dry, chalky
hills, and looked down upon Los Pueblos del Rincon. It was a very
pretty, verdant spot, almost hidden in foliage, and reposing in an angle
of wide and extended plateau. Having a note to the Commandante, I went
straight to his quarters: but being a merchant as well as soldier, I was
told he could be found at his shop, in the plaza. On going thither he
was indulging in siesta, and notwithstanding the urgency of my
requests, no one could be found foolhardy enough to disturb his
slumbers; nor was I permitted to do so myself. I then trotted across the
square, and presented my passports to the Alcalde, who having already
been mollified by repose, consented to find some brave individual to
awaken the sleeping rajah opposite. "_Senor_," said I, hat in hand,
"very sorry to incommode you, but necessity of the case," and so forth.
He continued scowling quite ferociously while buttoning his trowsers,
and as he pulled over his suspenders, and arranged them to his
satisfaction, demanded what was wanted. "Oh, nothing!" said I, "merely
an order from General Yanes in Guadalajara," throwing the missive
towards him. It acted as a charm: "_Jesu, Senor_, excuse me--those
rascals never told me you were waiting!"
Good animals were soon provided; and amid all Don Manuel Garcia's
generosity, he was pleased to sell me a bottle of sour wine from the
_tienda_; for which we ran his beasts, with a heavy thunder-storm of
wind and rain close upon our heels for a long six leagues. The road had
led through a rich, level district, covered with forests of fine timber,
and abounding in cultivated fields of grain. Presently clusters of
spires and towers sprang from the plain, and coursing through suburbs of
walled gardens, convents, and country dwellings--all gratefully reposing
beneath the shade of overhanging trees--we entered the city of Leon. It
includes, with the environs, a thriving population of near sixty
thousand souls; delightfully situated in the heart of one of the most
salubrious table-lands of the higher terraces of Mexico. The town,
though inferior to Guadalajara in elegance, can still boast of much
manufacturing wealth, with fine churches, spacious squares, and great
uniformity in the general construction of the houses, while streams of
pure water traverse it in every street, and irrigate the extensive
suburbs around. Indeed, let a Spaniard alone for choosing a pleasant
site, near good water; not that these their descendants have any cleanly
predilections that way, for, on the contrary--except for the commonest
purposes of drinking--their general filthiness of habit induces the
belief that they are universally imbued with a hydrophobial aversion
thereto.
We rode through one of the main avenues of the city, and entered the
grand plaza as the great bell of the cathedral was slowly tolling for
_oracion_, and unconsciously we checked the horses, to behold a vast
concourse of many thousands silently kneel--with uncovered heads, and
faces turned towards the church--whilst all was hushed to perfect
stillness. I never was more deeply impressed with an emotion of awe and
solemnity.
Three sides of the large square were lined with _portales_, or arcades;
with every archway and open space filled with venders of glass, cigars,
cutlery, saddlery, bridlery, and every kind of horse equipment; all,
however, destitute of workmanlike finish. The plaza itself was crowded
with itinerant traders, screaming in every possible intonation of voice,
their different wares. Stalls and booths were also doing a large
business in _licores_ and fried bits of meat, _frijoles_ and
_tortillas_, but what carried away the commercial palm by long odds,
were the _dulce_ women. There were a number of these popular saleswomen,
squatted beneath huge umbrellas, full ten feet in diameter--surrounded
by crowds of buyers--to whom they were dispensing papers of colored
sugars, candies, and sweetmeats unceasingly. I passed them again the
next morning, when they appeared busy as ever; and I was an eye-witness
to a little incident, wherein a centavo's worth of sugar was the cause
of a fatal stab. A lepero was purchasing a bit of chocolate--it fell in
the dirt, when another, probably thinking it a lawful prize, seized it,
and took a large bite; whereupon the lawful owner swung a mass of heavy
steel spurs attached to his wrist, jingling with some force, on the
offender's head. In a second down dropped the spurs, and serapas were
wound round the left arms. With low, deep curses and flashing eyes,
their knives gleamed in the light; the spectators cleared a ring, and to
work they went. I sprang upon a stone pillar, to be out of harm's way,
and thus had a clear view of the fray. Their blades were very unequally
matched: one was at least eight inches, and the other not half that
measurement; but both appeared adepts at the game,--watching each other
like wild cats, ready for a spring--moving cautiously to and fro, making
feints by the shielded arm, or stamp of the foot, for a minute or two;
when, quick as a flash, I saw two rapid passes made by both: blood
spirted from an ugly wound in the spur-vender's throat, but at the same
moment his short weapon scaled the doom of his antagonist, and he lay
stretched upon the ground, as lifeless as the bloody steel that struck
him. I glanced at the wounds after the affair had terminated, and found
the knife had been plunged twice directly in the region of the heart.
There was no effort or attempt made by the beholders to arrest the
parties; and the survivor caught up his spurs--a bystander quickly
folded a handsome kerchief to his neck--and threading the crowd he was
soon out of sight. The corpse was laid upon a liquor-stand, with a delf
platter upon the breast.
My letter was to apparently the mercantile nabob of Leon, Don Miguel
Obregon. He had a long range of _tiendas_, with a handsome dwelling
filling a large space, facing the square. He received me civilly--had
places taken in the diligence, which fortunately left the following
morning--and leaving my horse-trappings in his charge, I engaged a
jaunty young valet, who looked far more respectable than his new master.
He was dressed in blue velvet slashed trowsers, silver buttons thick as
peas, embroidered shirt, with a glazed sombrero and silver band. Juan
conducted me to a meson, which, like all other native inns in the
republic of Mexico, has two large enclosures, or court yards: the inner
ones with stalls for beasts, and the other for bipeds--the only
difference is, that the accommodations for the latter animals are closer
and the apartments more confined, having as a luxury a chair, and solid
brick structures raised a little way from the ground, whereon one may
sleep, if he can endure the filth and fleas. This is all the furniture
they rejoice in. Each lodger has a key to his own quarters, and the main
gateway is guarded continually--not, however, sufficiently vigilant as
to the society admitted; for the patios are crowded with improper
persons, who every few minutes make flying trips around the inn,
knocking at the doors; then, droves of beasts coming or
going--clattering over the paved yards, mingled with the whistles and
shouts of the _arrieros_--are not altogether provocative of repose. At
the _Caravanserai_ where I lodged, there was a hump-backed Ganymede, of
the most hideous kind. I have thought since, he would have been a mine
of wealth to an enterprising showman; or, in the dark ages, have made an
acceptable present to some bold Baron. Although not more than five feet
in height, his thin lucifer-match-like legs, being split up to the hump,
gave him the stride of a giant! and what with keen, glittering, beady
eyes, and the footfall of a cat, he made my flesh creep whenever he came
near me.
Every body is his own cook and housekeeper in Mexican mesons; and old
Cypriano having procured me a wool mattrass that fairly danced with
_pulgas_, and some long tallow links, which we stuck around the
walls--having no fears of a conflagration--I despatched Juan for the
best supper to be found. This amounted to red wine, beans and sausages.
However, we made merry, and treated some gay damsels outside to the
remains of our bottle. Cypriano then extinguished our illumination, and
stretching himself on the threshold, covered by his serapa, with a
weapon beside him, he left me to repose. It was my first night's rest
since leaving San Blas, that is, if the pile of bricks and mortar which
upheld my frame could reasonably be supposed to afford it. Yet the
fleas, for once, caused me no sensible annoyance, and I regained my feet
at sunrise, in readiness for further journeyings. I was pleased, too, at
the prospect of quitting the saddle for a coach, although with good
beasts I preferred the former: but to be subjected to the misery of a
racker--then a pacer--then a trot or gallop--and by way of change, a
horrible combination of all, with rapid travelling, is not only enough
to jar one's nerves and aid his digestion, but to give a disinclination
for a continuance of it.
Parting with old Cypriano, who gave me some sensible advice about
entrusting Juan with too much change, I sought the Diligence
Fonda--swallowed a hasty breakfast, and with no heavier baggage than a
spare shirt and tooth-brush, took my place.
Contrary to expectation, and agreeably disappointed, I found the coach a
thorough modern-built Yankee vehicle--comfortable and strong, with noble
teams of five and six horses, that tugged us along quite ten miles the
hour. The road was good, and a heavy shower had slaked the dust. The
country was again broken into rocky hills and ravines. At two o'clock we
reached the richest mining district of Mexico, in the neighborhood of
Guanajuato. Within a league of the city proper the route leads through a
valley into a deep split gorge, with rugged, arid hills running high up
on all sides. Passing a number of mining _haciendas_ of great extent,
the city, bit by bit, begins to unfold itself. It presents a most
extraordinary and picturesque appearance. The houses seem toppling one
upon the other--built in zig-zags, up and down sharp corners and
defiles--with the spire or towers of some church perched away in
mid-heaven, all brightly frescoed--the bases and gorges below being
filled in with thick mist--leaving the loftier portions in distinct
outline--closely resembling a city suspended in the sky. No scene of the
theatre could be painted more singularly novel. It fairly made me giddy,
as we came whirling through the outer defiles--turning hither and
thither--catching a panoramic view of the town, like a glimpse in a
prism, or revolutions of a kaleidoscope--when every moment one might
expect the whole fabric thrown into a sparkling succession of bright
colors--and what with the continual booming of reports from blastings in
the distant mines, I felt quite relieved when the diligence dashed down
a little pit of a plaza, and drove through a _porte cocher_ into the
court-yard of our Fonda.
My coach companions were pleasant fellows--there was a padre, two mining
agents, a gentlemanly young Mexican officer who had been adjutant to
Valencia, at the battle of Churubusco, and beside me sat a gentleman
possessing a remarkably handsome face and person, with the loss of his
right arm. He was French, Mons. Ribaud; he had been many years in the
country--was intimately associated with the leading chiefs and
revolutions of Mexico--had fought desperately, bore the marks of
honorable wounds, and was a man of much military experience and
acknowledged bravery; but latterly, owing to strong personal hostility
existing between him and Santa Anna, he had not been employed in battles
of the North or valley of Mexico. I found Monsieur Ribaud delightful in
conversation, and he related to me many adventures that had befallen him
during his long residence in the republic. On alighting from the coach,
I attended him to the commandante's, where my passport was properly
considered and countersigned, and an aide-de-camp kindly volunteered to
be my guide to the mint of the English directory. Here I was presented
to the superintendent, Mr. Jones, an American, from Connecticut, who
appeared pleased to meet a countryman, and showed me over the
establishment.
The machinery was of the most primitive kind--the stamping process
worked by hand, with a lateral wooden beam acting upon a perpendicular
screw; at each end of the beam there was attached a small rope, pulled
by four men, with an aperture in the floor sufficiently large to admit a
man, just within arm's length of the stamp, who was employed placing
smooth coins beneath the dies--one would naturally suppose at the
imminent risk of having his finger and thumb nipped off at every half
revolution of the lever; but practice renders the operative skilful at
the manipulation, and the screw descends, makes the impression, which is
as regularly displaced by the smooth dollar and ready fingers of the man
below. There were two of these apparatus, and they were only able to
coin about thirty thousand pieces in twenty-four hours. The contrivance
is surely a bad one, very tedious and expensive. The coiners received
seven-eighths of a dollar per thousand, and instances of dishonesty were
rarely known. The dies were of English manufacture, but the reason why
Mexican money presents such a rough and unfinished appearance, is purely
owing to their government, who insist upon the impressions being
facsimiles of those heretofore coined at their own mints.
The smelting process, the rolling, nipping, and milling machines, were
all much behind the age, and although the silver mines were producing
more than ever before known, and more than, at the period of my visit,
could by any possibility be coined, yet the directory have taken no
measures to introduce the valuable and beautiful labor-saving
improvements now in operation in Europe and the United States, where the
same work could be accomplished by fewer persons, executed certainly at
infinitely less expense, and with far greater facility and despatch.
I saw vast piles of pure metal in the vaults, and uncountable masses of
dollars. Before leaving, I was introduced to Mr. Bruff, treasurer to the
institution, who, with Mr. Jones, treated me with every attention and
civility.
Our _Fonda de la diligencia_ was well kept, commodious and respectable;
we sat down to the ordinary as a multitude of sweet-sounding bells were
ringing and chiming away with their brazen throats for evening vespers,
and after partaking of a Frenchified Mexican dinner, I sallied out for a
walk. My companion knew the town, but in wandering about the steep
angular elevations, I never dared to look up without catching hold of a
balcony or leaning against a wall, fearful of becoming dizzy, and
tumbling down somewhere.
Entering the _gran sociedad_, we passed through a long suite of bright
saloons--nearly suffocated by cigar smoke, or deafened by the incessant
clicking of billiard balls--when we came to the monte and loto rooms.
Here were grouped around a dozen different tables hundreds of players,
from the plumed hats and shining lace of officers, to the mean dirty
serapas of soldiers and leperos; all, however, earnestly intent marking
with grains of corn the numbers on the cards, as they were yelled forth
by the loto man, who was seated on a raised platform at one end of the
hall, watching the little ivory spheres as they dropped one by one out
of a cylindrical box revolving before him. Further on were the monteros
at work--with heaps of gold and silver piled around--with eager faces,
compressed lips, and glittering eyes absorbed in the intense interest of
the game--not a word or gesture save the dull monotonous voice of the
dealers, like to the tolling of a bell--_Juego senores! se va!_ with
eyes that never winked and lids rigid as sheet-iron. The cards were
pulled slowly and carefully one from the other, until the game was
decided, when took place the rattling chink of coins, with maybe the
deep uttered _carajo!_ of some unlucky wight who has lost a last stake;
yet even he pursues the easy dignity of his race, rolls and lights a
cigarrillo, draws his cloak around him, raises his sombrero gracefully,
and with a polite _Hasta manana senores!_ disappears from the table.
While moving about the apartments, my comrade pointed out two young men
in the Mexican uniform of captains, who were deserters from the American
army; one had been a lieutenant, named Sullivan; both bore the marks of
dissipation in unmistakable lines around their faces.
We again touched our hats, an invariable sign of courtesy, religiously
practised by all civilized beings on entering or leaving a public
assemblage, and walked into the street. We took a sort of corkscrew
promenade for a little space, when, by some strange flight of footsteps,
we found ourselves on the pavement of a triangular platform. Like to the
frame of a convex mirror, encasing a sheet of blue moonlit sky--lay
before, and as it were, trembling and tottering above us--one of the
many remarkable and scenic views of Guanajuato. Full in front against
the vaulted sky stood a double towered church, with dome, spires and
windows glistening like a transparency, then circling around were
bright, gay-colored dwellings, with lights dancing from casement to
casement, while each separate cornice, balcony and window, threw back to
the silver moon a thousand sparkling reflections--all admirably
contrasted with the sombre shadows of the deep gorge below. The scene
was truly beautiful, and when within a few feet of our position, the
full soft tones of a piano came thrilling through the still night, and a
female voice rose high and sweetly, "ah!" cried my friend, "there's a
deal to live for yet;" and we retraced our windings to the inn.
We were aroused at the first cock-crow, to take our seats in the
diligence; and rattling out of the city by the road we came, mounted a
steep eminence, when, gaining a flat sandy region, we soon lost sight of
Guanajuato. During the forenoon we passed through a number of fine
populous towns. At Irapuato, M. Ribaud and his friend left us. In
Salamanca, where we stopped to bait and change horses, a number of
beggars surrounded the coach, and in one I at once detected the pure
Milesian brogue and visage. He was whining and limping about, with a
tattered bat and stick, imploring alms in the most ludicrous attempts at
the Castilian tongue. "Why, Pat, you're a deserter," said I, from the
top of the vehicle. "Who siz that?" quoth he, evidently startled.
Forgetting his infirmities, clapping on his sombrero, and clenching the
stick in readiness for a fight, or flight, as he peered among the crowd;
and stepping up to a miserable leper, whose face had been painfully
stereotyped into a broad grin, he poked him sharply in the ribs, and
roared out, "Ye lie, ye baste! I was sick in the hospital, and the
Gineral tuk me aff in his own carridge." Here, Pat, I'm your man! "Ah'
is it there ye are, Liftinint? you're a pacock ov a boy! will ye give us
a rial?" No! but if you chance to be caught by the Yankees, you'll get a
rial's worth of "hearty-chokes and caper-sauce," I replied, going
through a little pantomime with heels and neck, for his especial
benefit. "No, be jasus! thim Harney blaggards will niver choke me while
the Dons is so ginerous." This was the last I saw or heard from Pat.
We rolled rapidly along all day, in great trepidation concerning
robbers, since the same diligence had been plundered for the eight
successive days previous. There were four inside, besides my boy and
myself. Early in the morning, a small, fierce-looking Yucatanese was
savagely bent upon slaying whoever should cross our path, and, by the
way, this Don Pancho was a perfect specimen of an ambulating
armory--having no less than two brace of holster pistols, a revolver,
sword, _cuchillo_, and his coat pockets filled with enough ammunition to
have resisted a siege. The two last and critical posts were at hand, and
together we mounted the box, with weapons in readiness. Whilst changing
horses for the last time, the stout _cochero_--and a very expert whip he
was--evinced some curiosity to know whether we intended shooting _los
compadres_--this is polite slang for highwaymen--in case of attack.
Being satisfied on that point, he declared he would not draw a rein
until we again got inside. The warlike Yucatanese seconded him,
protesting, in his cowardice, that he was solely actuated by fears of
compromising the good driver; he accordingly entered the vehicle,
hinting that his plan would be, on the first onslaught, to ensconce
himself under the body of the coach, and rapidly discharge a broadside
at the enemy--a mode of tactics I by no means subscribed to. It
convinced me, however, that there was collusion between robbers and
_cochero_, to make the most out of their prey, and I unequivocally
assured the stout driver, that if he did not lash the beasts upon the
first signs of danger, he should go halves with his _compadres_ from the
contents of my pistols; moreover, I still persisted in retaining a
position on top, in which I was ably seconded by a delicate young French
artiste, who volunteered to do his _possible_, if he could be supplied
with arms: thereupon we made a forcible seizure from the stock of the
brave Don Pancho. There were but two other passengers, who, not having a
dollar in their purses, or a stealable garment on their persons,
expressed utter indifference as to the course of events, lit cigars, and
crouched beneath the seats.
At last the long thong of hide was jerked from the leaders' heads, and
away they plunged like demons. We sped on for a league or more, over a
smooth broad road, lined with dense foliage of cactus and vines; keeping
a wary look-out, and occasionally cautioning the driver, at the risk of
his brains, to give his horses the rein, at the first appearance of our
expected visitors. Indeed I was on the point of congratulating myself
upon escaping their clutches altogether, when, as we whirled quickly
towards a slight declivity, the progress of the vehicle was necessarily
impeded by a few roods of rocky, uneven road; and at the same
moment--_Voila!_ said my companion, _Voila! les voleurs!_ Like magic
sprang up on either side, behind and ahead, a dozen villanous-looking
scoundrels; whilst to the right, upon a gentle knoll, were as many more
mounted, holding the animals of their brethren, and calmly regarding the
sport before them. I instantly levelled a pistol at a gentleman with a
raised carbine in one hand, and sombrero coolly doffed in the other, who
was courteously observing to the cochero, _Como estamos, Don
Pepe?_--how are we?--he was directly ahead of the leaders, and as my
finger sought the trigger, Don Pepe knocked the barrel up with his whip,
and shouted,--"we are good people!" Becoming conscious of the folly of
contending against such odds, I sank back to await my fate. I noticed
one swarthy old villain on horseback, who appeared chief of the gang,
and was withal rather uneasy, urging his _hijos_--children--_Presto! de
priesa! hombre!_--hurry! make haste!--and with good reason too, for
hardly had the villains opened the coach-doors, and commenced rifling
the gallant Pancho, whilst two more had clambered up the wheels, to have
an overhaul of the French painter and myself, when a voice cried
out--_Los dragones! los dragones!_--and the clash of sabres greeted our
ears: _Los dragones! los dragones!_ cried we all. Away hopped the agile
_compadres_ from the horses' heads, down jumped others from boot and
wheels, off they scampered right and left, and in a few seconds they
were seen galloping off in direction of the adjacent hills. The old
bandit who directed their movements was delayed a moment behind the
bushes in tightening his saddle girth. My fingers itched to have a crack
at him; but although, _De los enemigos los menos_--of enemies the fewer
the better--be a sage maxim, yet upon reflecting that we might have been
favored by the whole retreating troop with a volley from their
carbines--and that a coach full of passengers was not a small target--I
very sensibly left the weapon beneath the cushions. All this transpired
so rapidly that when the green jackets of the troopers became visible a
long way up the road, we were entirely relieved of our besiegers. My
companion counted twenty-six, but they got absolutely nothing for their
trouble; much to my regret, however, for I was in hopes the Yucatanese
would have been handsomely plucked, instead of only having his coat well
nigh rent in tatters!
The dragoons were an escort sent to guard a member of the Mexican
deputies, who was expected by the coach. They answered our purpose quite
as well. Nothing further occurred, except arresting a couple of
suspicious individuals on the road, and attended by the cavalry, we soon
arrived at the Garita of Queretaro. Here the brave Don Pancho had
recovered his wits, and wished to play collector for our escort, crying
out _Afloja la bolsa, Senor_,--milk the purse;--but dispensing with his
services, I gave the sergeant the only ounce I had; much better pleased
to give it voluntarily, even to be devoted to monte, than to have it
squeezed out by the ladrons.