The name of New Spain was at first given only to Yucatan by Grijalva
and his followers; but Cortez extended it to the whole empire of
Montezuma, which is described by the earliest writers to have reached
from Panama to New California. This, however, appears, from more
recent researches, on the accuracy of which Humboldt relies with
reason, to have been larger than the reality justified; and the whole
of Tenochtitlan may be said to have been contained in the present
states of Vera Cruz, Oaxaca, Puebla, Mexico, and Valadolid. In
addition to the name given by Cortez, that of the capital was extended
to the whole kingdom of New Spain; and since the revolution and the
establishment of independence, the several provinces form separate and
independent states, confederating together and constituting the
nineteen United States of Mexico; viz. Chiapa, Chihuahua, Cohahuila
and Texas, Durango, Guanaxuato, Mexico, Michoachan, New Leon, Oaxaca,
Puebla, Queretaro, San Luis Potosi, Sonora and Cinaloa, Tabasco,
Tamaulipas, Vera Cruz, Xalisco, Yucatan and Zacatecas. Old and New
California, Colima, New Mexico, and Tlascala, though forming members
of the federation, declined having state governments, on account of
the expense, and are designated territories. The whole republic,
according to Humboldt, occupies a space of 75,830 square leagues, of
twenty to an equinoxial degree; on which there are to be found every
inequality of surface, and every variety of soil and climate, the two
last of which are dependent in most cases on the former.
The republic of Mexico, taken on the grand scale, may be considered as
a succession of small mountain-plains at different heights, separated
by mountains, and increasing in magnitude as the coast recedes on both
the eastern and western sides, until the great centre plain be
reached, which, though much broken by mountain ridges, tends to the
north, maintaining nearly an equal elevation. The snow-capped
mountains of Orizava, and the volcanos of Puebla and Toluca, are among
the most splendid objects in the world. The Mexicans divide the
regions of their country into _Tierras calientes, Tierras templadas_,
and _Tierras frias_, according to the climate. Throughout the whole
country there is a lamentable want of water, and of navigable rivers.
The lakes, too, appear to be yearly decreasing in extent, the
immediate consequence of which is, that the elevated portions of the
interior are nearly stripped of vegetation, and the soil covered with
an efflorescence of carbonate of soda, there called _Tequisquita_,
resembling very closely the plains of the two Castiles, and recalling
to the Eastern traveller the desolate wastes of some parts of Persia.
The effect of elevation on the temperature is most marked, and it is
no uncommon thing to be shivering on one side of the street in the
city of Mexico, and to be literally scorched by the rays of the sun on
the other. Changes are upon record of 55° of Fahrenheit within three
hours, on one of the mountain-plains at the same height with the
valley of Mexico.
Notwithstanding the volcanic character of Mexico, earthquakes are by
no means so frequent there as in some of the neighbouring countries.
One of the most memorable on record occurred on the 14th of September,
1759, when the volcano of Jorullo, with several smaller cones, forced
the surface of the soil, destroying all before it.
The infinite variety of climate and soil fits this country for the
production of the fruits of all regions, from those of the hottest
within the tropics to those of the severest cold, where cultivation
can be carried on. But the want of ports, and of navigable rivers on
the Atlantic, opposes the advantages that might result from this
variety of production, though on the Pacific there are a few admirable
ports, such as Acapulco. The prevalence of the "Nortes," or northerly
winds, at certain seasons, seriously affects the navigation on one
side, while that of the "papagallos" is as inconvenient on the other.
The Mexican population is commonly divided into seven classes:--1.
European Spaniards, commonly called "_gachupines_." 2. White Creoles.
3. Mestizos, descendants of Whites and Indians. 4. Mulattoes,
descendants of Whites and Blacks. 5. Zambos, from Indians and Negroes.
6. Pure Indians. 7. African Blacks. But this classification may be
reduced to four:--1. Whites. 2. Indians. 3. Blacks. 4. Mixed Races,
the various gradations of which may be considered almost infinite.
The Indians consist of a considerable number of distinct tribes,
differing in many points of appearance, and speaking--not dialects
but--languages entirely different. No less than twenty of these have
been traced, and of fourteen of them there are already grammars and
dictionaries. The Indian population is chiefly centered in the great
plains, and towards the south; and Humboldt thinks that it has flowed
from the north to the south. The history of four great migrations is
preserved in the annals of Mexico, which are worthy of more detailed
examination than we can bestow upon them. The great body of these
people live apart from the other races of their countrymen, in small
villages, full of ignorance, suspicion, and bigotry, and displaying an
apparent phlegm, from which it would seem impossible to arouse them.
This phlegmatic temperament lessens the credit of the men with the
females, who uniformly prefer the European, or the still more
vivacious negro. "The indigenous Mexican is grave, melancholic,
silent, so long as he is not under the influence of intoxicating
liquors. This gravity is peculiarly remarkable in Indian children, who
at the age of four or five years display more intelligence and
precocity than the children of whites. The Mexican loves to attach
mystery even to his most trifling actions; the strongest passions do
not display themselves in his countenance; the transition is frightful
when it passes suddenly from a state of absolute repose to that of
violent and unrestrained agitation." Slavery with them has engendered
guile. They are obstinate in all their habits and opinions; their
religion is one of mere ceremonial, justifying the observation of
a priest to Mr. Ward, "son mui buenos Catolicos, pero mui malos
Cristianos" (very good Catholics, but very bad Christians.) Deception
in this, as well as in every thing else, is the order of the day; and
the Indian Alcalde now oppresses the villagers as much as he himself
has ever been.
Humboldt considers the Mexican Indian as destitute of all imagination,
though when to a certain degree educated, he attributes to him
facility in learning, a clearness of understanding, a natural turn for
reasoning, and a particular aptitude to subtilize and seize trifling
distinctions.
The music and dancing are as dull as might be expected among beings so
full of phlegm. The Mexican has a turn for painting and sculpture; and
retains the same fondness for flowers that struck Cortez so forcibly
upwards of three centuries ago. The "Indios Bravos," or Wild Indians,
are said to display more energy; but our information respecting them
is remarkably scanty.
Among the active vices of the Mexican Indian, that of drunkenness
prevails to a most lamentable extent. In the upper districts,
_pulque_, or the fermented juice of the aloe, is the principal
tempter; sometimes a spirit, distilled from the same plant, called
_Vino de Mescal_; while, in the hotter districts, the same effects are
ensured by the _chinguirito_, a very coarse kind of rum. Combined with
this disposition to intoxication, the Indian is constitutionally
indolent; and, now that he is a free man, he will rarely work, except
to obtain just as much as will afford him the means of enjoying his
greatest luxury--that of steeping his senses in oblivion. This last
tendency is much to be deplored, as, in the larger towns, we know that
every Sunday (which is the day of greatest indulgence) assassinations,
to the extent of six or eight each day, are the melancholy consequence
of its indulgence. Humboldt states that the police were in the
practice of sending tumbrels round, to collect the unhappy victims of
intoxication. The punishment was, and we believe still is, three days'
labour in the streets; but it does not seem to be very efficacious,
for generally within the week the delinquents are again in custody.
There is something characteristic in the indolence of these sombre
beings. They will travel immense distances; but to steady labour they
are, generally speaking, not prone. It is told of them, that in one of
the most fertile districts (the _Baxio_) it is not unusual for an
Indian, on receiving his wages, to get thoroughly drunk, go to sleep,
and on awakening renew his potations and repose, until the exhaustion
of his finances compels him to return to labour. In some parts,
however, there are exceptions to this observation.
Education has been more attended to, by some of the leading
personages, than could have been expected in a society that had been
so much kept in the shade. We apprehend the advantages are chiefly
prospective, and may be well defined in another generation; at present
they are but small. The whites have been, and still are, the most
educated portion of the Mexicans, owing, no doubt, to their greater
opulence, and having access to official rank. The mass of ignorance,
however, among all classes, is inconceivable to any one who has only
moved in the principal countries of Europe. Nor is it confined to the
lower classes, but finds protection among the highest in the
community. We heard a reverend canon of the metropolitan church
gravely inquire, whether it was possible to reach London except by
sailing up the Thames. And we knew a very pretty, agreeable young
lady, moving in the first circles, who could not write a single letter
at the age of seventeen. She has been since married, and has, we are
informed, been taught to write by her husband, who is not a Mexican.
The religion of all classes resembles too much that of the Indians;
and the practical morality and general tone of society are by no means
refined. If one half of the scandalous tales in circulation be true,
the former ranks with that of Paris in its worst periods, and the
latter is assuredly gross to a degree that would surprise even an
inhabitant of Madrid. The familiarity with which _every subject_ is
treated at first excites emotions in an Englishman of the most
unpleasant kind, which gradually subside, from the frequency with
which they are discussed by young and old; by high and low, of both
sexes.--_Foreign Quarterly Review_.
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Notes of a Reader.
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