MEXICAN POLITENESS.--FREE GIFTS OF HOUSES AND OTHER PROPERTY.--AWKWARD
MISTAKES.--AN ENGLISHWOMAN'S DILEMMA, AND HOW SHE GOT OUT OF IT.--UNCLE
FREDDY AND THE GOVERNOR OF ACAPULCO.--THE GREAT MARKET; SIGHTS AND
SCENES THERE.--ON THE CANAL.--EXTENSIVE LOCAL COMMERCE.--THE
_CHINAMPAS_, OR FLOATING GARDENS.--AN EXCURSION ON THE LAKES.--SANTA
ANITA, A PLACE OF RECREATION.--EXPERTS IN DIVING.--THE HILL OF
ESTRELLA.--THE FESTIVAL OF FIRE; PRESCOTT'S DESCRIPTION OF THE FEARFUL
CEREMONY.--FISHING IN THE LAKES.--THE AXOLOTL.--FISH OR REPTILE?--FLIES'
EGGS AS AN ARTICLE OF FOOD.
[Illustration: A GIFT TO FRED.]
"We have been much impressed and amused," said Fred in a letter to his
mother, "with the Mexican, or, rather, the Spanish, forms of politeness.
Whenever we are introduced to anybody, he immediately says, 'Remember
that your house is at No. -- on ---- Street,' notwithstanding that we
may have told him we are comfortably quartered at the hotel. In one day
a dozen or twenty houses were offered to us; and ever since then, if no
more than two or three are tendered between sunrise and bed-time, we
think it is a very poor day for business. Sometimes the form is varied
by saying, 'My house and all it contains are yours.' It would be better
if they would send us the title-deeds to the establishment, with a bill
of sale of the furniture acknowledged and receipted before a notary; but
thus far nobody has gone as far as that.
"It is a form of politeness, and nothing more," the youth continued,
"and the people who offer us their houses are about as sincere as
Americans are when they say, 'Delighted to see you,' or, 'Happy to meet
you,' to the people they are introduced to in their own country; or as
the New York hostess who says to a departing guest, 'Must you go so
soon?' when she has really been wondering to herself why the visitor
tarried so long.
"It seemed very odd until we got used to it and learned the real meaning
of the words, to be told on entering the dwelling of a man we had not
known five minutes, 'You are in your own house;' or that we were the
masters, and he was the humble guest. Doctor Bronson says they really
mean to have us make ourselves at home, and they certainly show great
hospitality; but it would be a sad mistake to take them literally and
act as though the place belonged to us.
"Every time we admire anything--a piece of furniture, a garment, an
article of jewellery or bric-à-brac, or anything else of value--we are
immediately told that it belongs to us, and, if it is portable, that we
can carry it away with us. If we should be so boorish as to accept the
offer, the person who made it would not display any annoyance, however
much he might feel; he is too polite for that.
"'What would they do under such circumstances?' I hear you ask. I can
best answer by telling a story we heard yesterday.
"An English lady who had just arrived, and had not learned the forms of
Mexican politeness, one day admired a set of jewellery, which included a
very costly necklace of diamonds and other precious stones that had
belonged to the family for two or three hundred years. She was told that
the set of jewellery was hers, and believing they meant what they said,
she took it away with her when her call was ended.
"Of course the story was at once told to the friend who had made the
introduction, and the latter at once went to the guileless stranger and
explained the situation. She returned the jewels immediately, with the
explanation that, on reaching home, she had found they did not match the
dress with which she expected to wear them. She added that she had a
fine set of jewellery which she thought would be an appropriate present
for one of the young ladies of the family, and she would send it with
great pleasure. A polite message was returned declining the offer, and
hoping it would be in the power of the family to render the English
visitor some distinguished services during her stay in the city. In this
way the whole difficulty was bridged over, and the parties were good
friends.
"A similar story was told us regarding an American lady who visited
Mexico several years ago, and, through her ignorance of the local forms
of politeness, accepted the offer of a rare and beautiful shawl. Mutual
friends arranged the matter amicably; but the fair American was greatly
mortified when she learned the mistake she had made.
[Illustration: "MY HOUSE AND ALL IT CONTAINS ARE YOURS."]
"Doctor Bronson says there used to be a harmless lunatic in San
Francisco, and afterwards in New York, who went about the streets
dressed in the old Continental costume. With his long and snowy hair,
and quaint costume, he was a noticeable figure. He was under the belief
that he resembled Benjamin Franklin, and he used to exhibit a photograph
representing himself standing at the base of the Franklin monument in
Boston.
"His passage by steamer was paid from San Francisco to New York by some
friends, and during the voyage the vessel spent a day at Acapulco.
'Uncle Freddy,' as he was called, went on shore with other passengers,
and was introduced to the Governor. The Governor made him the usual
offer of his house and everything it contained, and when the hour came
to go on board the steamer the recipient of the offer refused to
accompany the other passengers. He declared that the Governor had given
him the house, and he was going to remain and enjoy it for the rest of
his life. Explanations were useless; and after vainly trying to induce
him to change his mind, the passengers seized Uncle Freddy and carried
him bodily in their arms to the boat which lay in readiness to take them
to the ship. It was necessary to lock him in his room until they had
left their anchorage and were steaming outside the harbor.
[Illustration: SEEING AND BEING SEEN.]
"Of course you will naturally infer that the Spanish people are
insincere in their politeness, and certainly appearances are against
them. But they do not mean anything by it any more than the people of
the United States do in their polite ways of speaking. There is this
difference, that we do not go as far as the Spaniards in saying empty
words, and that is about all. Doctor Bronson says there's a good deal of
hollowness in society everywhere; that people could not get along at all
together, and there would be no society at all if everybody spoke
exactly what he thought at all times.
"Think what would happen if Mrs. Smith should remark to Mrs. Brown when
the latter is leaving the house after a prolonged visit, 'I'm glad
you're going; you've staid too long,' instead of saying and acting
exactly the reverse; and think, too, what would happen if Mr. Jones, on
being introduced to Mr. Robinson, should say, 'I don't care a straw
whether I know you or not,' instead of 'Glad to make your acquaintance,'
or something of the sort."
[Illustration: THE MARKET-PLACE, CITY OF MEXICO.]
One of the attractions of the Mexican capital is the market-place. There
are several _mercados_, or markets, in the city, the principal one being
the Volador, which is close to the National Palace, and overlooked, as
already mentioned, by one of the windows of the room which was
Maximilian's favorite apartment. History says it was for a long time the
property of the family of Cortez, as it happened to be on a portion of
the land which he secured at the division of the spoils of conquest. For
nearly two hundred years the city paid rent to the heirs of the
conqueror, and only in comparatively recent times bought the site, and
now owns it in fee simple.
Frank and Fred visited the market-place several times during their stay
in the city; in fact, it was one of their principal sources of
amusement. They were never tired of studying the ways of the natives who
throng the place and offer their wares for sale, and they realized the
force of what they read in one of the descriptions of Mexico, that the
markets had changed very little since the days of Montezuma and the
Aztec rule.
[Illustration: INTERIOR OF A HOUSE NEAR THE MARKET-PLACE.]
Here is what Bernal Diaz wrote of the market as he saw it in 1519:
"We were astonished at the crowds of people and the regularity which
prevailed, as well as at the vast quantities of merchandise which those
who attended us were assiduous in pointing out. Each kind had its
particular place, which was designated by a sign. The articles consisted
of gold, silver, jewels, feathers, mantles, chocolate, skins dressed and
undressed, sandals, and great numbers of male and female slaves, some of
whom were fastened by the neck, in collars, to long poles. The meat
market was stocked with fowls, game, and dogs. Vegetables, fruits,
articles of food ready-dressed, salt, bread, honey, and sweet pastry
made in various ways, were also sold here. Other places in the square
were appointed to the sale of earthen-ware, wooden household furniture
(such as tables and benches), firewood, paper, sweet canes filled with
tobacco mixed with liquid amber, copper axes and working tools, and
wooden vessels highly painted. Numbers of women sold fish and little
loaves made of a certain mud which they find in the lakes, and which
resembles cheese. The makers of stone blades were busily employed
shaping them out of the rough material, and the merchants who dealt in
gold had the metal in grains as it came from the mines, in transparent
quills, and the gold was valued at so many mantles, or so many
_xiquipils_ of cocoa, according to the size of the quills. The entire
square was enclosed in piazzas, under which great quantities of grain
were stored, and where also were shops for various kinds of goods."
[Illustration: MEXICAN BIRD-SELLERS.]
"The description of the market by Bernal Diaz," wrote Fred in his
journal, "would answer very well for to-day, so far as the appearance of
the sellers and many of the buyers is concerned. They bring the produce
of their farms and gardens to market just as they brought it before
Columbus discovered America, and the chief difference to-day is that
slaves, gold, silver, feathers, and some other things named by Diaz are
not now offered for sale. The Indians bring fowls and vegetables just as
of old and in the same way--in baskets carried on their shoulders or on
those of their family. Since the introduction of the railway some
produce comes to Mexico by train, and in course of time the old custom
may disappear, but it will not do so in a hurry.
[Illustration: VIEW ON THE CANAL.]
"There is a canal from the lake to the city," wrote the youth, "and it
comes directly to the market-place, so that the natives bring their
boats close to where they sell their wares. Much of the dealing takes
place on board the boats or close to them, and the crowds that gather
around while a bargain is in progress are very interesting. Some of the
shops and stalls are at the very edge of the canal, so that the prows of
the boats stick in among them, and you realize what a serious matter it
would be to the market-people if by any accident the lake and the canal
should be dried up and disappear. The whole system of local supply would
be radically changed, and until a new order of things could be
established the inhabitants of the capital might run the risk of
starvation.
"The busiest day of the market is on Sunday, and the noise of the place
is almost deafening. The ordinarily silent Mexican becomes very voluble
in the market-place when there is a prospect of making something by
talk.
"The description we have given of the market of Monterey will answer for
this one, with the exception that you must multiply everything by ten or
twenty, and add several things we did not see there. One part of the
market is devoted to the sale of coffins; they are made on the spot, and
had a specially sombre appearance to us, as they are all painted black.
The shops in which they are made are in a narrow alley, and the workmen
engaged in the dreary industry seemed as unconcerned as did the makers
of furniture or picture-frames.
"We hired a canoe and took a short ride on the canal. Its banks are low
and marshy; they are devoted to the culture of vegetables, and the
gardens had a luxuriant appearance, as though the soil was prolific. The
lake, as before said, is brackish and shallow; formerly it contained the
famous _chinampas_, or floating gardens, but when we asked for them we
were told they did not now exist, though the name is retained. We will
say more about them later on.
"Disappointed in one of the objects of our journey, we settled down to
an enjoyment of the sights of the canal; but our pleasure was a good
deal marred by the number of smells the boatmen stirred up from the
bottom.
[Illustration: RESIDENCE ON THE BANKS OF THE CANAL.]
"How old the canal is nobody can tell; it was in use long before the
Conquest, for when Cortez came here the boats of the Aztecs were plying
on its waters, and he observed the activity of the local commerce when
he walked along the banks while he was the guest of Montezuma. There are
little villages near the canal; they are the homes of the people who
till the gardens and supply the markets of the city with vegetables, and
with grass for horses and other quadrupeds.
[Illustration: SUNDAY DIVERSIONS AT SANTA ANITA.]
"To see the chinampas it was necessary to go to Santa Anita, or better
still, to the lakes Xochimilco and Chalco. Santa Anita is a sort of
Coney Island without its ocean, a place of recreation for the middle and
lower classes, especially on Sundays and feast days. We went there on a
week-day, when it was comparatively quiet; a gentleman who lives here
says that on Sunday the place is crowded with people, all bent on
amusing themselves. The first thing they do on arriving is to deck
themselves with wreaths of poppies and other flowers, which are sold for
next to nothing and grow here in great abundance. After obtaining a
supply of flowers they dance, drink pulque, eat tamals and other Mexican
delicacies, and have a thoroughly good time as they understand it. There
are other villages of the same sort farther along the canal, but they
are not so well patronized by the Sunday excursionists as Santa Anita.
"We seemed to 'take our lives in our hands' in starting on our journey
to the lakes, as we had a scene with the boatmen at the bank of the
canal which was anything but agreeable. We had been told that we ought
not to pay more than two dollars for a boat for the entire day; the men
began by demanding five or six dollars, and as all talked at once, and
each tried to persuade us to patronize him, and leave the others to look
elsewhere for patronage, we had an active time for a while. The men
would not abate their demands, and we walked away; then they reduced
their figures, and after ten or fifteen minutes spent in bargaining, we
secured a craft. It was about twelve feet long and four wide,
flat-bottomed, had an awning over the centre where we could sit in the
shade but could not stand erect, and was propelled by means of two
boatmen working poles in the bow. They pushed with their poles against
the bottom or sides of the canal, and thus sent the craft along, at the
same time stirring up the mud and several dozens of vile smells.
"We met and passed other boats of the same kind, and also small
_chalupas_, or canoes, containing one or two persons, and resembling
narrow dugouts more than anything else. Then we met cargo-boats of
various kinds, some piled high with grass, and others with heaps of
baskets or sacks in the centre, and propelled by several men who
patiently poled the craft along.
[Illustration: CREW OF A CARGO-BOAT.]
"Frank made a sketch of the crew of one of the cargo-boats at their
work. While going forward they carried the poles horizontally above
their heads; on reaching the bow of the boat, each man fixed his pole in
the mud at the bottom, and then rested his shoulder firmly against the
upper end; this done, he walked slowly aft, thus propelling the boat;
and as one set of men went aft while the other was going forward, the
boat made steady progress through the water. Doctor Bronson said it was
a reminder of the navigation of the Mississippi before the days of
steam-boats.
[Illustration: CHINAMPAS, OR FLOATING GARDENS.]
"The chinampas as they exist to-day are in the neighborhood of Santa
Anita and along the sides of the canal all the way to the lake. The
ground is low and marshy, and in ancient times was probably a part of
the lake or of the great body of water that covered most of the valley.
The chinampas are masses of vegetation, reeds, and bushes covered with
soil above, and they are so loosely fastened that they rise and fall
with the changes of the height of water. They are said to have been
formerly drifted about by the winds and waves, and were then really
chinampas; now they are made fast by means of poles, and their owners
know where to find them. An excellent description of these marvels is to
be found on page 159 of Mr. Brocklehurst's book, and we take the liberty
of copying it:
"'When a tract of vegetation, composed of reeds, water-plants, and
bushes interwoven and laced together, becomes so dense that it will bear
a superstructure, strips of turf twenty to thirty yards long by two
yards wide are cut from some suitable firm place, floated to it down the
canal, and laid upon it. This is repeated several times, and thus an
island is securely raised two to three feet above the level of the
water. A little soil is spread over it, and it becomes a _chinampa_, or
floating garden, on which Indian corn, vegetables, and flowers are
grown. The gardens vary in size from one to two hundred feet in length,
and from twenty to a hundred feet in width, according to the nature of
the vegetation which supports them.
"'The Lakes Chalco and Xochimilco are covered with this sort of
vegetation. The lakes have a varying depth of from ten to fifteen feet,
and to secure the gardens in their proper places long willow poles are
driven through them into the ground below, where they soon take root.
The poles also throw out roots into the bed of the floating gardens, and
so hold them steady.'
"It is said that thieves pursued by soldiers or the police have been
known to dive under these chinampas and come up on the other side. Any
enterprising citizen of the United States who thinks of coming to Mexico
for a life of crime would do well to become an expert swimmer and diver
before venturing into this country.
[Illustration: PEON'S HOUSE ON A CHINAMPA.]
"These gardens become firm enough in a few years to support men,
dwelling-houses, and even horned cattle and horses, although the water
continues to circulate freely beneath them. The Government taxes the
inhabitants or owners sufficiently to pay the expense of maintaining an
inspector and several assistants. The chinampas are separated by narrow
canals, and the duties of the inspecting party are to keep the canals
free from weeds, and see that the islands are properly fastened so that
they cannot drift about with the wind."
We may add to the story of the youth that at the time of the Conquest
there were thousands of these chinampas, and they annually paid a good
revenue to the Aztec authorities. The Valley of Mexico appears to have
been more densely peopled at that time than it is to-day, as every inch
of solid earth was tilled to its fullest capacity, and the necessity
arose for utilizing the marshes and also the surface of the lakes. In
the days of Cortez the floating gardens covered Lake Tezcoco, but as
time has gone on they have disappeared from that brackish sheet, and are
now practically confined to the two lakes we have mentioned and the
canals leading to them.
[Illustration: CACTUS GROWTHS NEAR THE HILL OF ESTRELLA.]
Our young friends kept a sharp watch for the Hill of Estrella, and there
was a good-natured rivalry between them as to who should be the first to
discover it. Frank was the fortunate one in this instance, for he caught
a glimpse of the conical peak while Fred was looking in the wrong
direction. It is of porphyritic sandstone, and about 500 feet in height;
the sides are steep in some places, and here and there it is possible to
discover some of the old masonry which converted the hill into a huge
teocalli like the Pyramid of Cheops.
[Illustration: ROCK INSCRIPTIONS MADE BY ANCIENT AZTECS.]
The modern village is at the base of the hill, and there the youths
landed and engaged horses to carry them to the summit. The view is quite
extensive, and shows a wide area of lakes and valley, and the mountains
that engirdle them. But they would hardly have made the ascent of
Estrella for the view alone; it was rather because the place has an
ancient fame, and was at one time the most sacred in Mexico.
"We have mentioned elsewhere," said Frank, "that the Mexicans had ages,
or cycles, of fifty-two years, and at the end of each cycle they had an
unusual ceremony, the Festival of Fire, which was not repeated till the
end of another cycle. Well, this hill was the scene of the ceremony,
which was held on the evening that the constellation of the Pleiades
approached the zenith. According to Prescott's history of the conquest
of Mexico, a procession of priests on that evening led a noble victim, a
captive of the highest rank, to be sacrificed on the hill of Estrella.
For five days previous the people had extinguished all their fires in
their temples and dwellings, broken their idols, and given themselves up
to despair, as they were taught that the world was coming to an end.
"After the Pleiades had passed the zenith the victim was slaughtered,
and a new fire was kindled by the friction of sticks in his wounded
breast. Then couriers stood ready with torches, which were lighted at
the new fire, and from the hill of Estrella it was carried all through
the kingdom. For thirteen days following this event there was general
festivity everywhere; and the Festival of Fire may be considered the
national carnival of the Aztecs."
Frank and Fred were naturally eager to ascertain what kind of fishes
were to be found in the lakes, and they learned in a very practical way.
Near Estrella they saw some men fishing with rod and line, and at their
suggestion one of the boatmen obtained some of the fish, which proved to
be a species of trout. They were not more than three or four inches
long, and in order to cook them the boatman made a charcoal fire in the
bottom of his craft. The fish were fried on the coals, and were
remarkably fat and juicy. The youths thought they had not in a long time
tasted anything so delicious, but the Doctor reminded them that they
were hungry, and since early in the morning had been out in the open
air.
[Illustration: HOME SCENE NEAR THE LAKE.]
There are several varieties of fish in the fresh-water lakes of the
Valley of Mexico, but in the salt or brackish Lake Tezcoco there is only
one kind, and some people think he is not entitled to be called a fish.
He is shaped like one, but has four legs and a long, eel-like tail. He
belongs more properly to the lizard family than to that of the fishes,
and is a disgusting object to contemplate. He grows to about ten inches
in length. Frank thought he should go hungry a long time rather than eat
of this reptile, who is called _axolotl_ in the Aztec tongue, and
_ajolote_ by the Spaniards.
"Does anybody venture to eat this creature?" Fred asked.
"Certainly," answered his informant; "the Indians eat its flesh, which
resembles that of an eel. White men who have got over their prejudice
say it is toothsome, and many a stranger has devoured axolotl under the
name of fried eel, and enjoyed it too."
"There's a great deal in a name and in prejudice," was the youth's
commentary as he changed the subject to something else.
That something was a peculiar article of food even stranger than
axolotl. Its scientific name is _Ahuatlea Mexicana_, and it consists of
the eggs of a peculiar fly, which are deposited on the reeds and rushes
growing in the shallow places along the borders of the lake. A traveller
who visited Mexico two and a half centuries ago wrote of this substance
as follows:
"The Indians gathered much of this and kept it in Heaps, and made
thereof Cakes like unto Brick-bats, and they did eat this with as good a
Stomach as we eat Cheese; yea, and they hold Opinion that this Scum, or
Fatness, of the Water is the Cause that such great number of Fowl cometh
to the Lake, which in the winter Season is infinite."
Custom has not changed in two hundred and fifty years. They sell these
"cakes like unto brick-bats" in the markets of Mexico to-day, and the
Indians eat the stuff with good relish. It bears some resemblance to
fine fish-roe; and after all, prejudice again being removed, and one
being hungry, it is not bad eating. The Indians gather these insects by
myriads and pound them into paste, which is afterwards wrapped in
corn-husks, and forms an article of food second only to the one just
mentioned. The laying capacity of the insect, which is about the size of
an ordinary fly, is something marvellous, surpassing the abilities of
the choicest fowls that ever were reared.
[Illustration: A DEAD FLY.]
"You may judge how abundant these insects are," said Frank, "when I
tell you they settle down so thickly on the water that we thought they
were shoals, or mud-banks! Fortunately for us, they didn't sting, nor
did they even settle on the boat."
In one of his letters to the King describing the country he had
conquered Cortez gave a minute account of the lakes in the neighborhood
of Tenochtitlan, and naturally mentioned the fact that they had no
outlet. He solved the mystery of the disappearance of the waters by
gravely declaring that there was a large hole in the bottom of Lake
Tezcoco by which the lake was drained. A century later an engineer was
sent from Spain to find the hole in the bottom of the lake. He made many
surveys, but was unable to discover it, and finally concluded that the
surplus water was carried off by evaporation.
[Illustration: RUINS OF A TOLTEC HOUSE.]