FURTHER SIGHTS IN PUEBLA.--ECCLESIASTICAL BUILDINGS.--SCHOOLS,
HOSPITALS, ASYLUMS, AND OTHER PUBLIC INSTITUTIONS.--CHOLULA AND ITS
GREAT PYRAMID.--FIRST SIGHT OF THE PYRAMID; ITS CHARACTER, SIZE, AND
PECULIARITIES.--ANCIENT CHOLULA.--MASSACRE OF INHABITANTS BY
CORTEZ.--RUMORS OF BURIED TREASURES.--HOW A CRAFTY PRIEST WAS
FOILED.--VISIT TO TLASCALA.--THE STATE LEGISLATURE IN SESSION.--BANNER
CARRIED BY CORTEZ.--FIRST CHRISTIAN CHURCH IN AMERICA.--ANCIENT PULPIT
AND BAPTISMAL FONT.--A REVERED SHRINE.--FROM TLASCALA TO APIZACO AND
ONWARD TOWARDS THE GULF.
[Illustration: PART OF PUEBLA.]
"In the height of its glory," said Fred, "Puebla contained more than
ninety churches. In 1869 it had sixty churches, nine monasteries,
twenty-one collegiate houses, thirteen nunneries, and numerous chapels
and shrines. The confiscation of ecclesiastical property has reduced the
number of the churches to little more than twenty, abolished the
nunneries and all the monasteries except two, which are really
hospitals or almshouses for old and disabled priests. Some of the
confiscated buildings have been sold for private uses, and others
converted into schools, hospitals, libraries, and other Government
establishments for local, State, or general government use.
"Doctor Bronson had a letter of introduction to the superintendent of
the Hospital de Dementes, or Insane Asylum, which is in the building
that was formerly the nunnery of Santa Rosa. We accompanied the Doctor
when he went to deliver the letter, and were politely received and shown
through the establishment. The hospital appears to be well managed, and
Doctor Bronson was much interested in it. Of course the building was
particularly attractive to Frank and myself, as we wanted to see how the
nuns were lodged in the olden times. They certainly had a most
delightful home so far as the eye was concerned, and I don't wonder that
the nunneries in Mexico were popular among the women. The decorations
everywhere were of beautiful tiles; the courts and their walls, the
walls of rooms, the ceilings, the oratories, the bath-rooms, and even
the kitchens and cooking stoves, were all covered with finely painted
and glazed tiles. It is easy to keep such rooms clean, and we certainly
have never seen a cleaner and neater building anywhere. We did not ask
whether the attractions of the place had any beneficial effect upon the
insane patients, but certainly they ought to have.
"From all we could observe, the city is admirably provided with
hospitals, schools, and asylums, and no doubt the fact that so many
suitable buildings were ready at hand had something to do with their
number. Then, too, the Church had made liberal provision for the sick
and suffering, and the Government here, as in other cities, had the
good-sense not to undo the philanthropic work which was so long carried
on under religious auspices. In the general hospital half the patients
are treated by allopathy and half by homoeopathy. The advocates of
either system can readily demonstrate its superiority over the other, as
they can in other countries besides Mexico."
[Illustration: PYRAMID OF CHOLULA.]
Every visitor to Puebla should go to Cholula, and particularly to its
great pyramid, which is, in some respects, the most remarkable edifice
on the American continent. In point of fact, very few visitors fail to
see it, and many of them go to Cholula before doing anything else.
"It is an easy excursion," wrote Frank, "as Cholula is only six or seven
miles from Puebla, and can be reached by a tram-way which deposits you
at the very foot of the great pyramid. A special car for sixteen persons
or a smaller number can be had for ten dollars, and it is as much
subject to your orders as a private carriage would be. As we were three
instead of sixteen, we decided to go in the ordinary way, paying fifty
cents each for the round trip. The cars afford a fine view, and
altogether we greatly enjoyed the excursion.
"We took a guide from the hotel, and he called our attention to the
various buildings and other objects, of which there were so many that
they are considerably confused in our recollection. We crossed the
Attoyac Valley, which abounds in fields of grain, and is dotted with
ruined churches and monasteries, one of the latter having been converted
into an iron-foundery and another into a cotton-mill. There is an old
Spanish bridge crossing the Attoyac River, and the Mexicans have shown
their ability to utilize the water-power of the stream by building
several mills upon it.
"We had not gone far before our eyes took in the mound, or pyramid of
Cholula, and also the great volcanoes of Popocatepetl and the White
Woman all in one view. The mound did not seem insignificant, although
backed by these great mountains; they are thirty miles away, though
they seem much nearer, while the pyramid is close upon our horizon and
steadily swells into the sky as we approach it.
"This is a good place for a bit of history. Cholula was an important
city, and covered a large area, when Cortez came to Mexico; under the
conquerors it had at one time fifty churches and other ecclesiastical
buildings, but now it has dwindled to a population of less than 5000,
and most of its former edifices are in ruins. The great pyramid is the
principal monument of the Aztecs, and in fact it is the best preserved
of their monuments to-day in all Mexico. For a picture of what it was
when Cortez looked from its summit, we have read with great interest the
description in Prescott's History. Here it is:
[Illustration: VIEW FROM THE TOP OF THE PYRAMID.]
"'Nothing could be more grand than the view which met the eye from the
truncated summit of the pyramid. Towards the north stretched the bold
barrier of porphyry rock, which Nature has reared round the Valley of
Mexico, with the huge Popocatepetl and Iztaccihuatl standing like two
sentinels to guard the entrance of this enchanted region. Far away to
the south was seen the conical head of Orizaba soaring high into the
clouds, and nearer, the barren, though beautifully shaped Sierra de
Malinche, throwing its broad shadows over the plains of Tlascala. Three
of these volcanoes, higher than the highest peak in Europe, and shrouded
in snows which never melt under the fierce sun of the tropics, at the
foot of the spectator the sacred city of Cholula, with its bright towers
and pinnacles sparkling in the sun, reposing amidst gardens and verdant
groves. Such was the magnificent prospect which met the eye of the
conquerors, and may still, with slight change, meet that of the modern
traveller, as he stands on the broad plateau of the pyramid, and his eye
wanders over the fairest portion of the beautiful plateau of Puebla.'
[Illustration: SPORT AT CHOLULA.]
"We are quite willing to adopt Prescott's description for our own, as
the scene is the same to-day as in the time of Cortez, except that there
is little left of the sacred city of Cholula, with its spires and
pinnacles, its gardens and verdant groves. The pyramid is a stupendous
structure, and worthy a place by the side of the great pyramids of
Egypt. It was long thought to be a natural mound, but all the
excavations that have been made in it show that it is an artificial
work, built by time and patience and the muscle of many thousands of
men. Its interior is of earth, and its exterior was once stone and
adobe, but time has covered much of the outside with earth, in which
trees, grass, and bushes have taken root and grow luxuriantly.
"The car stopped at the foot of the pyramid, and there we alighted.
There is a sloping road leading to the summit; it was built by the
Spaniards, and in its construction much of the old masonry was removed.
We ascended partly by this road, and partly by steps, pausing several
times on the way in order to rest and take in the ever-changing view. We
did not take the measurements of the mound, and therefore must give you
the figures of others.
"Humboldt says the mound is 1400 feet square, covering forty-five acres
of ground, and 160 feet high; another authority makes it 177 feet high,
and 1425 feet square. Another, and probably the most exact measurement,
gives the following figures:
"North line, 1000 feet; east line, 1026 feet; south line, 833 feet; and
west line, 1000 feet.
"The summit is a platform, or plateau, measuring 203 by 144 feet, and
having an area of not far from one acre. This plateau has a stone
parapet around it, and there is a chapel in the centre; the mound was
evidently built in four stories, like some of the oldest pyramids of
Egypt; but they are less distinct than the stories or stages of the
famous pyramid of Sakkara, on the banks of the Nile, which is said to
have been built by the children of Israel during their captivity.
[Illustration: LOCAL FREIGHT TRAIN.]
"The sides of the pyramid correspond to the cardinal points of the
compass, north, south, east, and west; and in this respect the structure
resembles the great pyramid of Cheops. Nobody can tell when it was
built; the Aztecs found it here when they came, and the Indians whom
they conquered said it was not the work of their ancestors. The Aztecs
dedicated it to their god Quetzalcoatl, and every year they sacrificed
on the summit of the mound thousands of victims in the manner we have
described in our account of Tenochtitlan. When the Spaniards came here
they found a statue of the Aztec deity on the place where the chapel
now stands; one of the first acts of Cortez was to destroy the statue,
and order the erection of a church in its place.
[Illustration: A RELIC OF THE PAST.]
"In his report to the King, Cortez said the city of Cholula contained
20,000 houses and the suburbs as many more. The people received him
kindly, but he learned, or pretended to learn, that they were plotting
against him. So he called a meeting of all the dignitaries, under
pretence of a consultation, and when they were assembled he ordered a
general massacre. Six thousand of the people were slain, and for two
days the city was given over to be pillaged by the Spaniards and their
allies the Tlascalans, who were bitter enemies of the Cholulans. The
Tlascalans were, of course, gratified with the slaughter and pillage,
but Cortez offended them deeply when he refused to permit the sacrifice
of the prisoners captured in the affair.
"We remained nearly two hours on the summit of the mound enjoying the
magnificent view, and trying to picture the place as it was in and
before the days of Cortez, and shuddering as we thought of the blood
that had been shed there in sacrifices and by the swords of the
conquerors. Fred made a sketch of the view, and then we descended and
looked through the village, which contained very little of interest;
next we took a Mexican dinner at the Fonda de la Reforma, a small but
clean restaurant on the Plaza Mayor. The plaza is as large as that of
the capital city, but so little used that it is grass-covered in many
places. There were few people there when we saw it, but they told us
that it is quite lively on market-day, when everybody in the town comes
there; there is a Zocala in the centre of the plaza, but it offered so
few attractions that we did not visit it. We strolled through the ruined
churches, and our guide told us that one of them, the Capilla Real,
which consists of three churches in one, was built for the especial
accommodation of the Indians. The massacre which Cortez ordered is
supposed to have begun on the plaza, but no one knows the exact spot.
[Illustration: INDIAN FARM LABORERS.]
"The natives have a tradition that there are vast amounts of treasure
concealed in the pyramid of Cholula, and we remark that this tradition
seems to prevail concerning old structures in all parts of the world. We
heard it in Egypt, India, Japan, China, Palestine, and other countries,
and presume we shall continue to hear it wherever we go until we give up
travelling and settle down to home life.
"Mr. Brocklehurst tells a good story about a priest who once learned
through the confessional that one of his parishioners had discovered the
cave where Montezuma's treasures were hidden. He explains that there is
a belief common through Mexico that at the time of the invasion
Montezuma hid all his treasures, and afterwards he and his high-priest
put to death all that assisted in the hiding, so that only they two
should possess the secret.
"The priest persuaded the Indian to show him the cave, but it was only
on the condition that he should be blindfolded while going to it. The
priest thought to outwit the Indian, and so he managed to drop the beads
from his rosary, one by one, as he walked along; in fact he had provided
himself with several rosaries, so that he would have beads enough for
the road.
"The priest saw the treasures in the cave and then walked home
blindfolded, as he had come. When home was reached, the Indian remarked
to his reverence, 'You had the misfortune to break your rosary, and drop
the beads on the road; I picked them up, and if you count them you'll
find they're all here.' And to this day no white man has found out where
those treasures are concealed.
[Illustration: AN AZTEC RELIC.]
"Secrets are preserved generation after generation by these people;
there may or may not be any treasures of Montezuma in the caves around
Mexico, but if the Indians know of their existence and the place of
their concealment, and believe it their duty not to reveal the
hiding-place, nothing can ever wring the secret from them. Persuasion,
threats, punishment, torture, have been tried repeatedly upon these
primitive people, but all to no purpose.
"There is a document among the records of Tlascala which says a tribe of
Tlascalans brought in large quantities of gold-dust, and gave to the
Church enough to make and pay for the crown of the Virgin of Guadalupe.
The Spaniards tried to find out whence it was obtained, but the Indians
would not reveal the locality of the placer. Losing all patience, they
tied up several of the Indians, and flogged them 'within an inch of
their lives.' The Indians bore the pain without a murmur, and within a
week the whole tribe left for Guatemala, and with them all who knew the
location of the placer. To this day it has not been revealed."
From Puebla our friends went to Tlascala, which is interesting on
account of its connection with the Conquest of Mexico by Cortez.
According to history and legend, it was an important city when Cortez
landed at Vera Cruz; now it has barely 4000 inhabitants, and the greater
part of its public buildings have disappeared. When Montezuma learned of
the approach of Cortez he asked permission to send ambassadors to him
through Tlascala, which was then at war with the Mexicans; the crafty
Tlascalans gave the desired permission, but at the same time despatched
an embassy to negotiate an alliance with the Spaniards, and join hands
with them in subjugating the Mexicans. Of course this was exactly what
Cortez wished, and the treaty was made before Montezuma could be heard
from.
[Illustration: INTERIOR OF AN OLD CHURCH.]
"We went by the morning train towards Apizaco," said Fred, "and stopped
at the station of Santa Anna, nineteen miles from Puebla. There we found
a tram-car, which carried us to our destination, three or four miles
from the line of the railway. It took us through the curious and sleepy
little town of Santa Anna, where not even the dogs showed any signs of
activity, with the exception of one that was biting a flea. Then we
passed some ruined churches, went at full speed into the valley of the
Attoyac, passed another town whose name I've forgotten, and pulled up at
Tlascala in front of the hotel where we expected to have breakfast and
pass the night. It was not a prepossessing hotel, but we thought it
might be endured for our brief stay; the result was better than we
anticipated, as the food, thoroughly Mexican, proved toothsome, and the
beds were hard enough to get us up early in the morning without any
summons from a night porter.
"The State Legislature was in session, for Tlascala is the capital of
the State of the same name, which happens to be the smallest
commonwealth of the Mexican union. We looked in upon the meeting and
found the members seated in two rows, facing each other; there were
eight of them, and all were smoking as unconcernedly as though in their
own homes. Doctor Bronson told us that smoking is permissible at all
times in the Mexican Congress, and therefore the State Legislatures only
follow the example which is set by the higher body. At one end of the
hall is a railing which shuts off a space for the President and his
secretaries, and close by the rail there is a tribune where the members
stand when making speeches.
"After looking at the Legislature and listening for a few minutes to a
discussion relative to an appropriation for making a road from somewhere
to somewhere else, we looked at the curiosities in the Legislative
building, which seems to be quite a museum in its way. They showed us
the banner which Cortez carried in his conquest of Mexico, and
afterwards presented to the Tlascalans in acknowledgment of the great
services they had rendered him. It is about ten feet long and forked, or
'swallow-tailed,' at the end; the fine and heavy silk of which it is
made was once a beautiful crimson; but it has faded to the complexion of
a decoction of badly made coffee; and the tassels and cords are
somewhat frayed and worn. Considerable sums of money have been offered
for this banner on behalf of Spain, but the Tlascalans have refused all
propositions for its sale. We saw also the grant of arms to the city
signed by Charles V. of Spain, and the city charter bearing the
signature of Philip II. and dated at Barcelona, May 10, 1585.
"There is a mass of official documents, all of great age, that we had no
time to examine, but which would be of great interest to a student of
Mexican history. They showed us the treasure chest, which had four
locks; and it was explained that anciently the city was ruled by four
chiefs, each of whom had a key to one of the locks. Each of these chiefs
had a palace of his own, and when the Spaniards came they destroyed the
palaces and erected churches upon their sites. Time is destroying the
churches, and only their ruins remain to show where the palaces were.
"One of the documents preserved here is the Spanish translation of an
order commanding that 80,000 picked men should march with Cortez against
Mexico. Cortez personally gave orders for the translation of this
historic paper. In the same room is the war-drum of the Tlascalans--a
hollow log two and a half feet long and six or eight inches in
thickness, and covered with curious carvings.
[Illustration: FIRST CHRISTIAN PULPIT IN AMERICA.]
"The object of greatest interest to us was the first Christian church
and the first Christian pulpit erected on American soil. They told us
that the structure now standing is the original one built by order of
Cortez; it is in good preservation, and evidently has been well cared
for. On the pulpit is an inscription which relates that the church was
the first erected in 'New Spain.' Not far from the pulpit is the font in
which the four chiefs of Tlascala were baptized in 1520; it is cut from
a single block of black lava, resembles a huge bowl, and is of very
creditable workmanship. The portraits of these four chiefs are preserved
in the Legislative building, and each of them has 'Señor Don' prefixed
to his Indian name; other portraits are in the same building, and there
are many paintings in the church, but few that we saw possess any merit
beyond that of an ordinary tavern-sign.
[Illustration: OLD BAPTISMAL PONT, TLASCALA.]
"While we were strolling about the town," continued Fred, "we saw some
Indians coming in from the mountains with logs of wood which were to be
cut into planks, and beams already shaped and finished. We judged that
these timbers weighed not less than 400 pounds apiece, and some of them
little, if any, below 500 pounds. They carried these timbers as they
carry most other burdens, slung over their backs and supported by straps
crossing their foreheads. These are the descendants of the people that
carried over the mountains the timber for the brigantines of Cortez
which he launched on Lake Tezcoco and used for the reduction of
Tenochtitlan. We examined a beam that one of the carriers had placed on
the ground, and found it to be of hard pine, twenty feet long, ten
inches wide, and six inches thick. You may make your own calculation as
to its weight if you think our estimates too high.
[Illustration: ANCIENT BELLS.]
"There are several old churches in Tlascala in addition to the one we
have mentioned, and we visited some of them more to pass away the time
than with the expectation of finding anything of interest.
"In the afternoon we went to the shrine of Ocatlan, which is on a hill a
mile or more from the grand plaza. This, we learned, was similar to the
church of Guadalupe near the capital, as it commemorates the miraculous
appearance of the Virgin to a poor, ignorant, but benevolent Indian
named Juan Diego, in the years not long after the Conquest. The shrine
is mostly of modern construction, and is greatly revered by the Indians,
who come here in large numbers from all the surrounding country."
The party spent the night at Tlascala and left the place in season to
connect with the train from Puebla, which meets the downward train at
Apizaco from Mexico for Vera Cruz. Their trunks went by the train of the
previous day, and were waiting for them in care of the Apizaco
station-master. They had an abundance of time for breakfast at the
junction; the through trains stop there twenty minutes for meals, and
our travellers arrived fully a quarter of an hour in advance of the
train by which they were to depart.
Apizaco is eighty-six miles from the city of Mexico. For the next sixty
miles of the journey there was nothing of special interest along the
route, which traverses the table-land at an elevation of nearly 8000
feet above the sea. The highest point on the line is at the siding of
Ococotlan, between the stations of Guadalupe and Soltepec, where the
elevation is 8333 feet. At Esperanza, near the edge of the great
plateau, 152 miles from Mexico City, the barometer shows a height of
7900 feet. Here they met the up-train from Vera Cruz, which had left
that city at 5.30 A.M., and was due in the capital at 7.30 P.M.
Just beyond Esperanza the train reached Boca del Monte, or "Mouth of the
Mountain," and here began the descent to the _tierra caliente_. What our
young friends saw in this descent will be told in the next chapter.
[Illustration: A NATIVE PLOUGHMAN.]