My arrival happened on the 13th of June. The garrison had been very much
strengthened, and a block-house was under construction near the estero,
with the expectation of holding the town during the rainy season and bad
weather, in the absence of force afloat. The news of the peace changed
these plans, and preparations were commenced for evacuating the town.
My little post at the Garita had been relieved of its old garrison, and
fallen into strange hands, so I took quarters with my good friend Don
Guillermo and Senor Molinero, where we lounged all day in the cool
patios, under the awnings, smoking away like Turks. Muzatlan was
extremely gay, owing to the yearly festival that takes place on the Olas
Atlas--a curving beach between two bluff promontories facing the ocean.
I am ignorant if there be in the calendar a patron saint devoted to
gamblers, or I should certainly believe that this jubilee was expressly
dedicated to him.
There were a great number of bough and cane-built booths raised on the
sandy promenade, all prettily draped with muslin and other light
fabrics, each having a tasteful display of liquors and fruits, with
little saloons screened off, and facing the sea, for either eating or
gaming: further on were stout upright poles, firmly planted in the
ground, supporting circularly swinging coaches or wooden horses, some
revolving perpendicularly, while others described the horizontal
circuit: beyond were meaner _barracas_ for the lower orders--gaming,
mountebanks, juggling, eating, and maybe a little fighting.
Towards nightfall the population assembled on the Olas Altas, and the
scene became very gay and animated--the monte tables were
thronged--dollars and ounces of gold chinking incessantly--loto banks
playing for prizes of dulces or licores--Indians with figured boards and
dice, making more noise than their _confreres_ in the trade, betting
coppers or fried fish. The cars and horses were filled with delighted
paisanos, who were enjoying the pleasures of city life. At the
fandangos, too! were girls in their gayest dresses, dancing to the
enlivening music of harps and guitars, bursting forth at intervals with
some shrill chaunt or ballad, to relieve their nimble feet, perhaps,
from exertions attending the _jarabie_ or _jota_. It is altogether quite
an attractive spot; and when one is tired of the monte, bowling at
Smithers', or dancing at the fandangos, there is the sparkling surf at
your feet, where the energies may be revived for a cosy supper with some
fascinating little Mexicanas who are never known to decline a cup of
chocolate and sweetmeats.
The influx of so many strangers from the surrounding country was not
particularly advantageous to the morals of the Mazatlanese community:
petty thieving and pilfering were all the rage. One evening some expert
practitioner contrived to entice a valuable pair of pistols, clothing,
and other articles from my table in the centre of a large apartment, by
introducing a pole and hook through the iron grille of the window; and
the same night my friend Molinero was robbed of his bed-clothes, while
sleeping, by the same enterprising method. Indeed I incline to the
belief that one may have the gold from his molars picked out, if the
mouth chances to be opened, in a crowd of these cunning leperos. My
consolation was, in being aware that they had filched all worth
stealing, and in being indifferent to future depredations.
The first night of my arrival I met our former little housekeeper at the
Olas Altas, surrounded by a group of merry friends: "_Ah! dios!_" she
exclaimed, "but they told me you were never to return--what _diablitos_
those Yankees for telling such fibs. You have been gone just five
_Domingos_"--they count by Sundays,--"and that _loco gringo amigo_ of
yours nearly ruined your horse, and came near breaking his own neck in
the plaza--_gracias a Dios_!" Her breath being by this time exhausted,
we made up a little purse, or _vaca_, and fortune befriending it at the
monte, we sent her home, with enough silver to keep her Cuartel going
for a twelvemonth. Early the next morning she was at my bedside, saying,
_Digame de sus viajes_--tell me your adventures. To be relieved of her
inquisitiveness, and get more sleep, I threw around her pretty throat a
silver image and chain of our lady of Guadalupe which saved me any more
exercises in the Spanish idiom until breakfast. And, by the way,
ignorant people may indulge the idea that the Castilian tongue may
easily be acquired "without a master," but, so far as my individual
experience goes, no study is comparable to its acquisition with a
tutoress, who, with the charms of bright eyes, rosy lips, and clear
natal enunciation, renders the task not only facile, but pleasurable. I
would advise any person who wishes to become proficient in this
beautiful language to pay his homage to some artless, unaffected
senorita, who, although she may not be ultra-enthusiastic, will still
seem pleased, and interested at all your blunders, correct you with a
tap of her fan; and if you be devoted, though stupid, will forgive all
but flirtation with her _cunada_--confidant;--guide your bungling feet
in the dance, walk with you in the plaza, receive your little devotions
of laces, gloves and flowers, and sing her sweetest low cancioncitas for
your especial admiration.
The regret of the townspeople was universal at our approaching
departure; and even the few who were at first opposed to the North
Americans had become the warmest in our favor. The sailors had all
embarked, and the marines remained to perform the concluding honors. On
the 17th of June, in the afternoon, General Negrete, escorted by a
number of officers and a small squadron of cavalry, entered the Plaza.
Drums rolled, the soldiers presented arms, the American flag came down,
the Mexican Eagle flew up over the Quartel, and amid the thundering of
artillery from ships and shore, bowing of officers, and waving of
chapeaus, the ceremony ended. Arraya remained at the Presidio, having
delegated his authority to the second in command.
I mounted my horse for the last time, rode through the deserted garita,
and around the town. Many a kind adios was said, and although mine were
laughed in return, I felt quite sad, for I had made happy acquaintances
and friends, amid a class of people of all others, the wide world over,
whose society and manners I have ever fancied, besides being relieved of
the detestable monotony of shipboard; and I regard the half-year passed
there as among the most contented of my existence, and shall ever refer
with many a yearning to those pleasant days in Mazatlan. However,
repinings are unavailing when a man's course in life is clearly defined,
and he has no alternative but the almshouse on a dead lee-shore, and
carrying a press of canvas to weather it; or else I might have taken
the law in mine own hands, and settled down comfortably in Mexico.
"Ay de mi! un ano felice
Parece un soplo ligero,
Pero sin dicha, un instante.
Es un siglo de tormento."
Farewell Mazatlan! adieu, ye black-eyed girls, who so detested the
Yankees, and shed such pearly tears at their departure! Adieu to
fandangos, bayles, and tiny feet! Good-bye, ye jovial, hospitable
traders, and your ruby wine! Alas!--in one sad sigh!--Farewell!