THE CITIES AND INSTITUTIONS OF MEXICO
Character of Mexican cities--Value of Mexican civilisation--Types of
Mexican architecture--Mexican homes and buildings--The _Plaza_--Social
relations of classes--The City of Mexico--Valley of Mexico--Latitude,
elevation, and temperature--Buildings--Bird's-eye view--The lakes--
Drainage works--Viga canal and floating gardens--General description--
The cathedral--Art treasures--Religious orders--Chapultepec--Pasco de
la Reforma--The President--Description of a bull-fight--Country homes
and suburbs--Colleges, clubs, literary institutions--Churches and
public buildings--Army and Navy--Cost of living--Police--Lighting and
tramways--Canadian enterprise--British commercial relations--The
American--United States influence--A general impression of Mexico.
Mexico is a land of numerous capital cities--far more numerous than
those of any South American country. These cities are entirely distinct
in type to the centres of population of Anglo-Saxon North America.
Their structure, environment, atmosphere, are those of the Old World
rather than the New--that is to say, if the cities of the United States
and Canada are to be taken as American types.
Their character is that distinct Spanish-American one ever encountered
in the countries which were the main centres of Spanish civilisation.
Consequently there is much similarity between them. Standing in the
Zocalo, or _plaza_ of the City of Mexico, in front of the fine
cathedral, we might imagine ourselves transported 2,500 miles, more or
less, to the south-east, to the handsome city of Lima with its _plaza_
and cathedral. But we may journey over the whole of Anglo-Saxon
America, north of the Mexican border, and we shall find nothing
similar.
The difference in character of the two nationalities of the Americas is
plainly stamped upon their respective cities. The one is sealed with a
hurried activity--the mark of the exigencies of commerce; the windows
and doors of a business world, where men look out or emerge to the
strife of money-making. Notwithstanding its wealth and solidity it
bears a certain ephemeral stamp which the Mexican type does not convey.
The atmosphere of this is one of serenity, of indifference to the
feverish haste of money-getting, and its windows and doors give sight
and footstep to less modern, less useful, perchance, but less
evanescent a phase of civilisation. Let us theorise as we may, let us
say what we will, about the progress of the world, but we continue to
hope that the quiet civilisation of Spanish-America will preserve its
character, for who can doubt that in the plan of nature there is some
meaning in this preservation of a race which refuses to make the strife
of commerce its main basis of progress.
History and tradition are stamped upon the facades of the stone-built
cities of Mexico--religion and aristocracy have left their mark. They
are cities of churches and convents, and of the abodes of the
authoritative and the wealthy. They are far from being "republican" in
aspect--that is, if the term is meant to convey the idea of democracy.
The Governor's palace, the military _cuartel_, the ecclesiastical seat,
form the centres from which the ordinary streets and life of the people
radiate. The general structure and disposition of these cities is
dignified and convenient. The dominant idea is the central _plaza_,
upon whose four sides are the abodes of the authorities. First is the
cathedral, whose facade takes up a whole side, or, if the place is not
a capital, an extensive church--the _iglesia_--occupies the place of
honour. Following this are the national or municipal palaces, where the
public business is transacted, whilst on the opposite sides are clubs,
shops, or other main centres of business or pleasure.
Generally, the upper storeys of the buildings in the _plaza_--except
the ecclesiastical--overhang the footpaths, or, rather, are built over
them, supported by the characteristic _portales_, or series of arches
and pillars facing the roadway. This type of structure is prevalent in
almost all the older Spanish-American cities. It is a feature of
Mexican and Peruvian cities, and is encountered even in remote places
such as Arequipa and Cuzco, the old Inca capital in the heart of the
Andes, where it was introduced by the Spanish builders.
[Illustration: SPANISH-COLONIAL ARCHITECTURE: THE PORTALES OF CHOLULA.]
A similar type of architecture, especially as regards the houses,
characterises all Mexican cities and towns. The plan of town dwelling
is that with interior _patio_, wide _saguan_, or entrance door, and
windows covered with outside grilles, either of bars or of wrought-iron
scrollwork. From this _patio_, which in the wealthier houses is paved
with marble, the doorways of the lower apartments open. The houses are
of two storeys, and access to the upper is gained by a broad staircase
which terminates on a wide balcony, or, rather, gallery, above the
_patio_. From this gallery the doors of the upper rooms open. A
balustrade runs round the outer side of the gallery, and this is
generally covered with flowering plants, ferns, and palms, in pots or
tubs, which lend an air of coolness and luxury to the interior. Above,
the _patio_ is open to the sky, except that the overhanging roof of the
house covers the gallery, from which it is supported by pillars. The
whole arrangement is pleasing, and adapted to the climate, and the
foreigner who has become accustomed to it finds that it possesses
certain advantages which the houses of his own country do not enjoy.
On the other hand, this plan of building has grave drawbacks. The
absence of a garden or grounds in front of, or surrounding the house,
gives a restricted feeling. The main difference between an English and
a Mexican house is that the Briton loves to cut off too-close
intercourse with humanity by retiring his dwelling far from the road,
whilst the Spanish-American builds his fronting immediately upon the
street. In these houses, moreover, the rooms generally open one into
the other, which is far from the Northerner's idea of privacy. This
fact, indeed, is born of a race characteristic--the closer association
between the members of families which obtains with the Latin race. The
guest in these houses--somewhat to his embarrassment if he be an
Englishman--sometimes finds a glass door, with no means of screening
him from observation, the division between his apartment and that of
some other--possibly a reception-room! Moreover, light and ventilation
often seem quite secondary matters, for as a rule the rooms--in the
case of the interior one--simply open on to the _patio_ gallery above
it if it be the second floor, with glass door and no windows.
Consequently, if light or air are required, it is necessary to keep
these open, and this is, of course, difficult at night. The Mexican
thinks nothing of sleeping in a closed-up room all night, and shuts his
doors and windows--where windows exist--and closes his shutters to the
"dangers" of the outside air!
There are rarely fireplaces or stoves in Mexican houses. Of course, in
the tropics these are not required, but in the cities of the uplands it
is often bitterly cold. There is a popular belief that warming the air
of a room by artificial heat in the rarefied air of the uplands induces
pneumonia, but it is doubtful if this has any real foundation. And the
Mexican prefers to shiver under cover of a _poncho_, rather than to sit
in comfort and warmth, after the European or American fashion. On the
other hand, the Englishman who has experienced the inveterate habit of
overheating of the houses and offices of New York or other parts of the
United States will prefer the Mexican method. Nothing is more trying to
the Briton than the sudden change of temperature from the high-heated
American office or house to the bitter cold of its winter streets, such
conditions as prevail in the United States: or the overheating of
American trains.
The architecture of Mexican cities is often of a solid and enduring
type, especially the buildings of older construction; and many of these
date from the time of the earlier viceroys. All public buildings and
ecclesiastical edifices are of this nature. The modern buildings have,
in some instances, followed out the same style, eminently suitable for
the country, but others have adopted a bastard and incongruous
so-called "modern" type, copied from similar structures in Europe or
the United States, where pure utility of interior has been clothed with
undignified exterior of commercial character, marking a certain spirit
of transition in its inhabitants. This is partly due to the ruthless
American industrial invasion, which, whilst it has valuable elements
for the country, should not be allowed to stamp a shoddy modernism upon
the more dignified antiquity of environment. This tendency, however,
has not yet had time to show itself, except in a few instances in the
capital. Nevertheless, some portions of the City of Mexico have already
been spoilt by the speculative Anglo-American builder, who has
generally called himself an architect in order to perpetrate appalling
rows of cheap _adobe_ houses or pretentious-looking villas, made of the
slimmest material and faced with that sin-covering cloak of _tepetatl_,
or plaster "staff." Even some of the principal streets of the capital
have been disfigured with hideous pretentious business structures, for
which the Anglo-American element, whether in fact or example, has been
responsible. If the Mexicans are wise they will sternly refuse to adopt
much of steel construction or of "staff" and corrugated iron covering
imported from the north, but to limit their buildings to native
materials of stone or brick and their elevation to two or, at most,
three storeys. The skyscraper is at home in New York or Chicago; in
Mexico (or in London) it is the abomination of desolation. In San
Francisco the outraged earth endeavoured to shake them off a year or so
ago in an earthquake! An attractive feature of Mexican houses is the
flat roofs, or _azoteas_. These are often made accessible from the
interior and adorned with plants and flowers, and even the heavy
rain-storms of certain regions do not seem to influence this type of
construction or demand the rapid watershed of the gabled roof. During
the time of the conquest of the City of Mexico these _azoteas_ formed
veritable coigns of vantage for the Aztecs, who poured down a hail of
darts and stones upon the besiegers.
The _plaza_ of the Spanish-American city is its main centre. Thence the
principal streets emerge, and there, upon its prettily planted and
shady promenade foregather the people to listen to the _serenata_, or
playing of the band on frequent occasions. The Mexicans are
passionately fond of music, and a wise governmental sentiment has found
that it is a useful part of government. Therefore it is decreed that
the bands shall play, free of cost, to the multitude. In some cities
the plaza-promenade has two paved footpaths adjoining each other--the
inner for the _elite_ and well-dressed class, the outer for the _peon_
and Indian class. It would be manifestly impossible that the hordes of
blanket-clothed, _pulque_-saturated, ill-smelling, and picturesque
lower class could rub shoulders with the _gente decente_ or upper
class, nor do they desire to do so. They take their fill of the music
quite indifferent to the presence of their superiors in the social
grade, and the vendors of native sweetmeats, cooling drinks, and fruits
ply their trade among them. On one side of the plaza, in the smaller
towns, there are booths or tables where food is being cooked and
displayed for the lower orders; and the savoury odour of _frijoles_ and
_tortillas_, or other matters of satisfaction to the _peon_, greet the
nostrils of the promenader from time to time. The well-dressed
_senoritas_ and their male acquaintances, with ceaseless _charla_, or
small-talk, promenade round and round the plaza, flirting, laughing,
and enjoying life in a way that seems only possible to the Latin race.
Indeed, the plaza is the principal meeting-place of the sexes.
As has been remarked, Mexico is a land of many capital cities. From the
City of Mexico, northward along the plateau and southward, eastward,
and westward, we may visit a score of handsome State capitals, a
hundred towns, and an endless succession of remote villages and
hamlets. Their environments embrace every change of scenery--from arid
plains and rocky steeps to fertile valleys; and the larger communities
share the quaint--if not always hygienic--disposition and atmosphere of
their especial national character. At times, however, the smaller
hamlets, or collection of primitive habitations of the plateau, have an
inexpressibly dreary and squalid aspect, the backwardness and poverty
of their people being well stamped thereon. Treeless, dusty, and
_triste_, they strike a note of melancholy within us. The towns of the
Pacific and Gulf slopes have generally some added charm afforded by the
tropic vegetation surrounding them, and we shall often mark with
surprise, after days of dusty and arduous journeying, that we have
suddenly entered a handsomely built town, sequestered far from beaten
routes of travel, yet bearing a stamp of permanence and solidity and
the air of an independent entity.
[Illustration: A PUBLIC GARDEN IN TROPICAL MEXICO: VIEW AT COLIMA.]
The first city of importance in the country is, of course, the Federal
capital of the Republic, with its population of 369,000 inhabitants.
Standing towards the southern extremity of the great plateau of
Anahuac, reposing in a beautiful valley full of natural resources, and
rich with historic lore, is the City of Mexico. Of singular and varied
interest is this capital of the prosperous North American Republic
whose name it bears, for its geographical situation and historical
associations are such as assign it a leading place among the great
centres of Spanish-American civilisation.
In many respects the capital of Mexico may be considered the queen city
of Latin America. Buenos Ayres is much larger and of greater importance
as a centre of population, but it has not Mexico's history and
tradition. The commerce of Santiago and Valparaiso are potent factors
in the life of the Pacific coast, but the Chilean capital and seaport
are but modern creations in comparison with the old city of the land of
Anahuac. Only Lima, the beautiful and interesting capital of her sister
nation--Peru--is comparable with Mexico as a centre of historical
tradition and Spanish-American culture. Of course, the City of Mexico
with its large population is much larger than Lima, with less than
150,000.
Indeed, there are many points of similarity between Mexico and Peru,
such as have been discussed elsewhere, and which are the common
knowledge of the student, but the City of Mexico possesses a special
interest in that it was actually the seat of a prehistoric American
civilisation--that of the Aztecs--whilst its position between the great
oceans which bathe the American coasts, give it a value for the future
of untold possibilities.
The Valley of Mexico, wherein the capital is situated, is a broad
elevated plain, or basin, surrounded by hills, which culminate far away
to the south-east in the snow-clad summits of Popocatepetl and
Ixtaccihuatl--the extinct volcanoes of the Sierra Madre. The combined
conditions of its latitude and elevation above sea-level--19 degrees 26
N., 99 degrees 7 W., and 7,410 feet--have dowered it with an agreeable
and salubrious climate, with an annual range of temperature from 60
degrees F. to 75 degrees F. The mornings are cool and bracing, often
bitterly cold indeed; whilst the midday sun is often hot, and the
Mexican stays within the cool of his thick-walled house, for it is the
hour of _siesta_. Excessive extremes of heat and cold are not
encountered, although at night the Mexican gladly dons his velvet-lined
cape, and the foreigner his overcoat, whilst the poor _peon_ shrouds
himself in his _serape_.
The city is one of handsome buildings, wide streets, and fine avenues.
Its architecture bears the stamp of its Spanish origin--the typical and
picturesque facades of the houses, the grille-covered windows, the
balconies looking on to the streets, and other characteristic features
well known to the traveller in Spanish-America. The great plaza, ever
the pulse and centre of these communities, is known here as the Zocalo;
and this ample square is that same one around which the Aztec city--the
famous Tenochtitlan--was built, upon whose foundations the Mexican
capital arose.
The plan of the city is more or less the geometrically regular one of
main and cross-streets running at right angles to each other, and the
principal of these are lined with shops, whose windows display
luxurious articles of jewellery, clothing, and other effects such as
betoken the taste and purchasing power of a wealthy upper class. It is
a city of domes and towers, which rise above the surrounding roofs, and
convey that aspect of charm and refinement unknown to the purely
business cities of Anglo North America. The strong part which the
Church has played is shown by the numerous and handsome churches in
every quarter of the city. There are more than one hundred and twenty
churches and other edifices which were built and formerly occupied for
ecclesiastical purposes. The cathedral is the dominating structure, and
its two great towers, nearly 200 feet high, are conspicuous from any
point of view.
Let us behold this pleasing city from afar before examining more in
detail the institutions and habitations of its people. The environs of
the capital form a good setting to its beauty. Taking our stand on the
range of hills which bound the Valley of Mexico, our eyes rest upon the
cultivated fields and gardens of the smaller towns which dot the plain
and lead up to the central mass. Green meadows, running streams, great
plantation of _maguey_, giving their characteristic semi-tropical
aspect to the landscape, surround _haciendas_ and villages embowered in
luxuriant foliage, all lying beneath the azure vault of the Mexican
sky. The gleam of domes and towers, softened in the glamour of the
distance, catches our eyes; and the reposeful atmosphere and mediaeval
tints seem to belie the strife of its past, or even the incidents of
its modern industrial life. There is the Castle of Chapultepec
surrounded by trees, the beautiful and venerable _ahuahuetes_, or
cypresses, surmounting its hill--the Aztec "Hill of the Grasshoppers"
where Montezuma's palace was, and where stands the fine structure
reared by the viceroys, now the official residence of the Presidents of
Mexico of to-day. And there lies Guadalupe gleaming in the sun, with
its famous shrine of miraculous visions and cures--the Lourdes of
Mexico. There lie Tacubaya, San Angel, and Tlalpam, luxurious and
aristocratic suburban homes of Mexico's wealthy citizens, surrounded by
their exuberant vegetation on fertile hillsides mid soft and soothing
colour and balmy atmosphere. From the pine-clad hills whereon we stand,
which form the rim of this singular valley, the whole panorama is open
to the view, of lakes and flat plain, the latter crossed by the dusty
roads cut by centuries of traffic through the white _adobe_ soil,
giving access to the surrounding villages and the serried lines of the
_maguey_ plantations, or the chess-board chequers of dark green
_alfalfa_, lighter barley, and yellow _maiz_. And from plain and dusty
road, and vivid _hacienda_ and city domes and whitened walls, our gaze
rises to the clear-cut, snowy crest of "The Sleeping Woman,"
Ixtaccihuatl, in her gleaming porcelain sheen, where she hoards the
treasures of the snow, reminding us of the peaks of the great South
American Cordillera, to whose system she and her consort Popocatepetl
are but a more recent addition. Like legendary sentinels of a vanished
past, they seem to overwatch the valley.
The Valley of Mexico is a flat plain, in the lowest portion of which
the City of Mexico is situated, two or three miles from Lake Texcoco.
The plain consists of lands barren and lands cultivated, marshes and
swamps, all intersected by numerous streams falling into the lakes, as
well as irrigation and drainage canals, whilst on the rising ground
which appears in places the volcanic understructure is laid bare, often
in the form of great lava sheets. The group of lakes have been
elsewhere described in these pages. Lake Texcoco, whose shores are now
distant from the city, is a dreary waste of brackish water with
scarcely any fish-life, inhabited by water-fowl at certain seasons.
During the period of overflow its rising waters cover many added square
miles of ground, but in the dry season the water recedes, leaving
saline-covered marshes of desolate aspect. Lakes Chalco and Xochimilco,
however, are very different in their regimen and aspect. They are of
fresh water, and stand at an elevation some 10 feet higher than
Texcoco, into which they discharge. Fertile meadows surround these, and
Xochimilco is now, as it was at the time of the Conquest, a "Field of
Flowers," which is the meaning of its native nomenclature, not unworthy
of the designation of an "earthly paradise," which the modern Mexicans
bestow upon it.
[Illustration: THE VALLEY OF MEXICO: THE GREAT DRAINAGE CANAL.]
The position of the City of Mexico near Lake Texcoco, which receives
the waters of all the other lakes of the system, has ever rendered it
liable to inundation, and to a saturated and unhealthy subsoil,
conditions which, were it not for the healthy atmosphere of the bracing
uplands whereon the valley is situated, would undoubtedly make for a
high death-rate. The drainage and control of the waters of the valley
have formed matters of thought for Mexico's successive Governments for
more than four centuries. Work to this end was begun under Montezuma in
1449, nearly three-quarters of a century before the Conquest. During
the colonial _regime_ further works were undertaken, in 1553, to
replace those destroyed by Cortes, followed by other works in 1604 and
1708. But only after the Republican _regime_ was established was the
work carried to completion, upon a plan brought forward by a Mexican
engineer. These works, which were mainly carried out during the closing
years of last century by English firms of engineers and
contractors,[28] consist of a canal and tunnel. The canal is thirty
miles long, flowing from the city and bearing its sewage and
storm-waters, and taking the overflow from Lake Texcoco: and
discharging thence into a tunnel, perforating the rim of the valley,
about six and a half miles long. This in turn empties into a discharge
conduit and a ravine, and the waters, after having served for purposes
of irrigation and for actuating a hydro-electric station, fall into an
affluent of the Panuco river and so into the Gulf of Mexico. This work,
which is the climax of the attempts of four hundred years or more,
reflects much credit upon its constructors and the Government of Diaz,
which financed it at a total cost of sixteen million Mexican dollars.
[Footnote 28: S. Pearson & Sons, Ltd., London, and Read, Campbell &
Co.]
An Aztec hydraulic work of the Valley of Mexico is the Viga Canal,
which leads from the Indian quarter of the city, crossing swamps,
plantations, and waste lands to Xochimilco, the "Field of Flowers."
Along this canal ply daily primitive canoes and punts laden with
vegetables, flowers, and other produce for the native market. The
floating gardens, or _chinampas_, far-famed of Mexico, are encountered
upon this canal. But, alas! the "floating gardens" do not float, nor is
it possible to prove that they ever did, in plain, prosaic fact. They
consist of areas of spongy soil intersected by numerous irrigation
ditches, where the traveller may observe the Indian owners industrially
watering them and tending their profuse array of flowers and
vegetables. New "floating gardens" are sometimes made by the method of
driving stakes into the shallow bottom of the lake, winding rushes
about them and filling in with the fertile mud.
The city itself is surrounded on all sides, except that leading to
Chapultepec, by miles of squalid streets, where dwell the poor and
outcast of the community--and their name is legion. Yet these
surroundings, if squalid, are less painful than the frightful East End
dens of London, or the appalling Bowery and east side of New York.
American cities, whether North or South, have produced nothing in their
boasted march towards "liberty," which is an alleviation for the
proletariat, above the cities of Europe. These mean yet picturesque
streets give place as we enter to those inhabited by the better class,
whose dwellings generally exist side by side and interspersed with the
shops and commercial establishments, after the general fashion of
Spanish-American cities. This is indeed a notable feature of their
regimen. Here is the old home of a former viceroy or of a modern
grandee, cheek by jowl with a little bread or liquor shop; its handsome
doorway, worthy of study, but a few paces away from the humble entrance
of the _tienda_ aforesaid. The names of some of Mexico's streets and
squares are reminiscent of the past or of fanciful story and legend and
heroic incident. Here is the _puente de_ Alvarado, formerly the
Teolticalli, or Toltec canal; here the street of the _Indio triste_, or
that of the _Nino perdido_; the "sad Indian" and the "lost child"
respectively. Redolent of the Mexico of the viceroys, of political
intrigue, of love and _liasons_, of the cloak and the dagger, are some
of the old streets, balconies, and portals of Mexico. Here the Spanish
cavalier, with sword and muffling cape, stalked through the gloom to
some intrigue of love or villainy, and here passed cassocked priest and
barefooted friars, long years ago. Here sparkling eyes looked forth
from some twilight lattice what time from the street below arose the
soft notes of a serenading guitar. As to the sparkling eyes and the
serenading lover and the balconies, these are not gone; they are
imperishable in Mexico. Here is a description of Mexico of years
ago--the Mexico of the viceroys--which I will translate freely from the
description of a Mexican writer of to-day, and which in some respects
might almost describe the city at the present time: "Hail, mediaeval
city, redolent of sentimental recollections and romantic impressions
such as well might be the creation of fantastic romance! Clustered with
monasteries and convents, turreted dwellings and sombre monuments,
bathed in an atmosphere of orisons and melancholy, threaded by foul and
ill-paved alleys, made for crime, intrigue, and mystery; where buried
in the profundity of night love and wickedness both stalked forth;
strange temples and niches lit by twinkling lamps before the images of
saints; recollections of diabolical Inquisitorial rites--a romantic and
fantastic shroud, dissipated now, torn into shreds by the iron hand of
destiny, and banished or transfigured by the torch of progress!"
[Illustration: THE CATHEDRAL OF THE CITY OF MEXICO.]
As has been said, the construction of the houses of Mexico was of solid
type, with walls such as might serve for fortresses rather than
dwellings, and when from necessity, some old building is demolished it
can only be performed by the aid of dynamite. So builded the Spaniards,
and their work will outlast the more ephemeral structures of to-day.
Indeed, at the beginning of the colonial period and throughout the
sixteenth century, the buildings actually were constructed both as
dwellings and fortresses. At the end of that century a greater
refinement of architectural art appeared--as a natural outcome of
corresponding conditions in Spain--in the colonies. The great cathedral
of Mexico was constructed, due to a mandate of Philip II. It was
dedicated in 1667, but not concluded until the beginning of the
nineteenth century, and into its facade enter the Doric, Ionic, and
Corinthian orders. It is an exceedingly handsome building, both
interiorily and exteriorily, and it stands upon the spot where the
great Aztec _teocalli_ stood--the shrine of the abominable war-god of
the early Mexicans. The edifice stands upon the soft subsoil of which
the city's foundation is composed, softness which has caused the
subsidence of other buildings; but the cathedral, although it has
suffered somewhat from earthquake shocks, stands firm and solid as
ever. Valuable art treasures exist within, among the pictures being a
Murillo, and possibly a Velasquez. So numerous are these old pictures
that they overlap each other upon the walls. The cathedral is nearly
400 feet long, and its interior rises upon twenty splendid Doric
columns for 180 feet, whilst the apices of the great towers are 204
feet above the pavement. But this splendid temple--as is often the case
with the cathedrals of Spanish-American capitals--is not the
fashionable or aristocratic resort of Mexico's religious people.
Nevertheless, its aisles are generally thronged, and the highborn and
expensively attired lady and the poor _peon_ woman, with her modest
_rebosa_, or shawl, may be seen side by side kneeling upon its
knee-worn floor, whilst before the images in the seven chapels of its
aisles there are never wanting supplicating figures, nor the numerous
little written supplications pinned upon their altar rails.
It would be endless to describe the other numerous ecclesiastical
buildings and temples of the City of Mexico. Their number and beauty
are indicative of the strength and rooted persistence of religion and
monastic orders in New Spain. Among the principal of these Orders and
the dates at which their corresponding habitations were erected, were
those of the Franciscans, 1524; Dominicans, 1526; Augustinians, 1533;
Jesuits, 1572; Carmelites, 1585; and various others, with numerous
convents.
The principal commercial and fashionable street of Mexico City is that
of Plateros, somewhat narrow and congested, but full of high-class
shops. Thence it continues along Bucareli[29] and the broad Avenida de
Juarez, which in turn is continued by the famous Paseo de la Reforma, a
splendid drive and promenade of several miles in length, which
terminates at the Castle of Chapultepec. This great road is planted
throughout its length with trees and adorned with a profusion--almost
too great--of statues, and along both sides are private houses of
modern construction. These are less picturesque, but more comfortable,
than the old Spanish-built dwellings before described, although at
times somewhat bizarre in their facades, with a certain _nouveau riche_
air, consequent upon the transition period of Mexican life of recent
years. The beautiful monument and statue of Guatemoc is planted in this
avenue, and is worthily deemed a successful embodiment of Aztec art
sculptured by modern chisels. Upon Sunday morning--the fashionable time
of _serenata_ or promenade concert--the wealth and beauty of the
capital foregather in carriages and upon foot and listen to the strains
of the band. Here we may, from the seats of our victoria, observe the
Mexican upper class at our--and their--ease. Hats off! A private
carriage comes driving swiftly by; its coachman attired after the
English fashion, and the whole equipage of similar character. In it is
a well-dressed gentleman well past the middle age, with dark complexion
and characteristic features. It is the citizen-President, the
redoubtable General Diaz, and the universal salutations are evidence of
his popularity. The air is balmy and the warmth of the sun pleasant.
But at any moment these conditions may change, and a ruthless
dust-storm, swept by the wind from the dry _adobe_ plains surrounding
the city, descend upon us, the fine dust covering our clothes and
bidding us direct our coachman to turn his horses' heads towards our
hotel. This, however, is not frequent, but when it does occur it brings
a certain sense of disillusion akin to that felt by the British
holiday-maker when he has gone down to an English seaside place to
enjoy the balmy air and finds a bitter east wind blowing!
[Footnote 29: Named after the viceroy who caused its construction.]
But the bull-fight--ha! the bull-fight--takes place
this--Sunday--afternoon, for this is the Mexican Sunday sport: a kind
of licence, possibly, after the numerous _misas_ of the early morning!
We have purchased our seat in the _sombra_ of the great bull-ring, and
the _corrida_ is about to begin. Let us glance round the assembly of
many thousands of persons. The seats of the great amphitheatre are
divided into two classes--the _sol_ and the _sombra_, "sun" and
"shade." That is to say, that the seats in the shady portion--for the
structure is open to the sky--are of one class, and command a high
price of, say, ten _pesos_ each, whilst the sun-beat portion is of an
inferior class, and price, say, one _peso_. It is a sea of faces we
gaze upon, the _elite_ of the city in the _sombra_, and the lower
classes, the _peones_ and others, in the _sol_.
The arena is empty, but suddenly a bugle-call sounds from the judges'
platform, and the _picadores_, men on horseback, with their legs
protected by armour and bearing sharp-pointed lances in their hands,
enter and ride around the arena, bowing to the judges and assembled
multitude, who receive them with plaudits. Again a bugle-call, and the
sliding doors leading from the _corral_ are opened, and a bull,
bounding forward therefrom, stops short a moment and eyes the assembled
multitude and the men on horseback with wrathful yet inquiring eye. A
moment only. Sniffing the air and lashing his tail, the noble bovine
rushes forward and engages the _picadores_; the little pennants of the
national colours, which, attached to a barbed point, have been jabbed
into his back by an unseen hand as he passed the barrier, fluttering in
the wind created by his rush. Furiously he charges the _picadores_. If
they are clever they goad him to madness with their lances, keeping him
at bay; if he is resolute down go horse and man--both results tickling
the popular fancy immensely--and those frightful horns are buried deep
in the bowels of the unfortunate steed, which, maddened with agony and
fright, leaps up and tears around the arena, trampling perhaps upon his
own entrails which have gushed forth from the gaping wound! At times
the wound is hastily sewn up, and the unfortunate horse, with a man
behind him with a heavy whip, another tugging at the bridle, and the
_picador_ on his back with his enormous spurs, forces the trembling
brute to face the savage bull again, whilst the audience once more
roars out its applause. As many as ten horses are killed or ruined at
times by a single bull, who returns again and again to plunge his horns
into the prostrate carcase ere it is dragged away. This is sport!
[Illustration: BULL-FIGHT IN THE CITY OF MEXICO, SHOWING THE SPECTATORS
OF THE "SOL," THE PICADORES, AND THE ENTERING BULL.]
But perhaps the bull himself is faint-hearted! Then, indeed, the noble
Spanish blood of the audience is aroused to fever pitch. "_Otro toro!
Otro toro_"--"Another bull! bring another bull!"--rises from a thousand
throats. Otherwise the other acts of the performance take their course,
and the _banderilleros_, bull-fighters armed with short gaudily
decorated spears with barbed points, come on. Some "pretty" play now
ensues, the _banderilleros_ constantly facing the bull at arm's length
with the object of gracefully sticking the spears or _banderillas_ in
the neck of the animal, where, if successful, they hang dangling as,
smarting with the pain, the bull tears round the arena, to the
accompaniment of the delighted roar of the crowd. This scene is
repeated again and again, until perhaps several pairs of _banderillas_
are depending from the shoulders of the maddened animal. The
_capeadores_ have not been idle, and the bull, repeatedly charging them
and meeting only the empty flapping of the _capas_--the scarlet cloaks
which the bull-fighters charged with this office wield--works himself
into a paroxysm of rage, which must be seen to be understood.
Oftentimes the _capeadores_ are severely injured; sometimes killed in
the act by a terrific stroke of the bull's horns.
But hark! once more a bugle-call, strong and sonorous, from the judges'
box; the well-known notes which call the _espada_ to his task; the last
act in the drama--for drama it is. The _espada_ is the most famous
bull-fighter of all. His salary is a princely one; his reputation
extends over two continents, from Old Madrid to Old Mexico. He is the
great star in all that richly-dressed galaxy of _toreros_--for their
gorgeous silver and gold spangled attire baffles description--and all
his _companeros_ are but lesser lights, paling before his name and
powers. And now the band, which has hitherto sent forth joyous music,
plays a sad and mournful air. The _espada_ takes the sword from an
attendant and examines and curves it with critical and expert eye.
Then, taking off his gold and silver-embroidered cocked-hat, he bows
low towards the judges and to the fair ladies of the _sombra_; and in
fitting phrase "dedicates" the stroke he is about to perform to them.
Or otherwise, with his hand upon his heart, he turns towards the
occupants of the _sol_, and again bowing low dedicates the coming
stroke and the doomed bull thus: "_Al Querido Pueblo!_"--"To the
beloved people"! A hush falls upon the great assembly: a pin might be
heard to drop: the bull, who during these preliminaries--somewhat
fatigued but full of life and anger--has been standing in the arena
with his attention diverted by the _capeadores_, is now left to face
his doom at the hands of the expert _espada_. Bull and man slowly
approach, eyeing each other as those whose quarrel is to the death,
whilst the notes of the music sound low and mournful. Within arm's
length the _espada_ extends his shining blade. He glances along it; the
bull leaps forward to charge; there is a swift thrust; the blade goes
home in that fatal spot which only the expert knows; and tottering,
swaying, and falling, the noble bull leans over and falls prone to the
dust. He raises his head with a last effort; the _espada_ rushes
forward, places his foot upon the prostrate neck, and, exerting a
mighty strength, draws forth the scarlet, dripping blade, and a crimson
stream of life-blood spurts forth from the wound, whilst the animal,
making "the sign of the cross" with its forefoot upon the sand, lowers
his noble crest--dead!
Then are the bounds of pandemonium let loose. How the audience of the
_sol_ shrieks and cheers! Hats, sticks, cloaks, belts, even money, are
thrown into the arena like hail, and nothing is too good for the
successful _espada_ and the idol of the moment. Even the dignified
_sombra_ shouts itself hoarse, and at times showers bank-notes and
jewellery down, and perhaps--let it be whispered low, for it is not
unknown!--a billet-doux or _papelito_ for the brave _torero_ from some
newly-created female admirer. Grave gentlemen in frock-coats and ladies
in elegant attire, on the one hand, discuss the points of the
entertainment, whilst the red _serapes_ of the _peones_ and _pelados_
and their great _sombreros_ rush animatedly to and fro. The band plays,
the crowd pours into the street, and the long shadows fall from the
blue Mexican sky across the dust of their departure, whilst a team of
horses drag forth the quivering flesh of the vanquished bull to the
_corral_, and the Sabbath Day draws to its close.
The Mexican upper and middle class share the general Spanish-American
characteristic of preference for life in their cities. Expeditions into
the country are matters to be avoided if possible. The gilded youth of
the capital and members of polite society generally, do not like to
leave the conveniences of good pavements, restaurants, fashionable bars
and clubs and the like, and to venture into the hot sun or cold winds
of the country regions. It is true, however, that there is a certain
exodus to their _haciendas_ of the upper-class families in the season
corresponding thereto; but the love of the country for its own sake, or
for sport, exercise, or exploration, as understood by Englishmen, is
unknown. There are no country houses, as in Great Britain, where
wealthy people reside because they prefer it; for the Mexican prefers
to live in the main streets of his cities, the great doorway of his
_patio_ and his barred windows opening and looking immediately on to
the streets.
On the other hand, the wealthy inhabitant of the capital often lives in
the quaint and beautiful towns adjacent thereto, and reached by rail or
electric car with a few miles' journey. Such places are Tacubaya, San
Angel, Tlalpam, and others, and here spacious and picturesque stone
houses--some of considerable age--surrounded by luxuriant gardens where
oranges, pomegranates, and other semi-tropical _flora_ lend shade and
beauty, attest the wealth and taste of their inhabitants. Serene and
old-world is the atmosphere surrounding these "palaces"--for some are
worthy of this designation--and with their environment of summer sky
and glorious landscape they form real oases of that romantic and
luxurious character which the foreigner in his fancy has attributed to
Mexico, but which he fails to encounter in the newer quarters of the
city.
To treat at much length of the numerous institutions and buildings of
the capital would be to fill a volume. The parks, monuments, museums,
art gallery, public library, theatres, hygienic establishments,
hospitals, prisons, new drainage-system, pure water-supply, national
palaces and public buildings, colleges, schools, clubs: mining,
engineering, medical science, and art institutions: all mark the
character of the people as lovers of progress, art, and science, with
strongly developed literary and artistic perceptions and idealistic
aims, which they are striving to apply to the good of their people, as
far as circumstances render it possible. All the machinery of State
affairs and municipal and social life are excellently ordered
theoretically, and in time may be expected to work out in general
practice to a fuller extent.
Education is provided for by compulsory primary instruction throughout
the Republic, and by preparatory and professional schools and colleges
in the capital, all of which are free. The principal of these latter in
the capital are the Preparatory College, or High School, providing a
general curriculum; the College of Jurisprudence, devoted to law and
sociology; the Medical College, to medicine and kindred subjects; the
School of Engineering, whether civil, mining, electrical, or all other
branches of that profession, which is looked upon as a very important
one; School of Agriculture; School of Commerce; School of Fine Arts;
Conservatory of Music; Schools of Arts and Trades, for boys and girls
respectively; Normal Colleges, for men and women respectively. All
these educational institutions are supported by the Federal Government
in the capital, by which it is seen that the Mexican nation is holding
forth good opportunity to its citizens for acquiring knowledge.
Notwithstanding these facilities the education of the lower classes
proceeds but slowly, and at present less than 13 per cent. of the
entire population can read and write. It is to be recollected, however,
that the great bulk of the population consist of the _peones_ and the
Indians, and the conditions of the life of these render the acquisition
of education by them often impossible. Knowledge cannot else but slowly
unfold for the indigenous peoples of Spanish-America, weighed down as
they are by conditions of race, caste, and inherited and imposed social
burdens.
[Illustration: MEXICAN STREET SCENE: A PULQUE SHOP WITH
ARTISTICALLY-PAINTED EXTERIOR.]
Prominent among the literary, scientific, and art institutions of
Mexico City are the Geographical Society, the oldest of all, founded in
1833; the Geological Society; the Association of Engineers and
Architects; Society of Natural History; the five Academies of Medicine,
Jurisprudence, Physical and Natural Science, Spanish Language, Social
Science, respectively; also the Antonio Alzate Scientific Society and
the Pedro Escobedo Medical Society. Of museums and galleries are the
Academy of San Carlos, with fine specimens of European and Mexican art,
among the former of which are works by Velasquez, Murillo, Ribera, and
others attributed to Rubens, Leonardo da Vinci, Van Dyck, &c. The
National Museum, which was founded in 1865, is an important and
interesting institution, in which are preserved the famous
archaeological and ethnological objects and collections illustrative of
prehistoric Mexico. It was founded in 1865, and attracts Mexican and
foreign visitors to the annual number of nearly a quarter of a million.
The famous prehistoric Calendar Stone is preserved here.[30] There are
various other museums devoted to special subjects. Of libraries, the
_Biblioteca Nacional_ ranks first--a handsome building with 365,000
volumes for public use. The building is a massive stone structure, and
was originally built for a church. A garden surrounds it, and upon the
stone pillars of the enclosure are busts of Mexicans and Aztecs famous
in history, as Ixtlilxochitl, Tezozomoc, Nezahualcoyotl, the king-poet;
Clavijero, the historian, and others. Other libraries are maintained by
various museums and professions.
[Footnote 30: Also the Aztec sacrificial stone.]
There are some sixty or more Catholic churches in the city, and
numerous other buildings formerly of ecclesiastical purpose. Most of
these were built during the colonial _regime_, the Spanish Renaissance
being the prevailing style. Several Protestant places of worship
exist--religious observance being absolutely free--and these include
Episcopalians, Presbyterians, Methodists, Baptists, and others. The
religious census, made in 1900, of the whole of the Republic gave
thirteen and a half million persons declaring themselves as Catholics,
about 52,000 Protestants, 1,500 Mormons, 2,000 Buddhists, and about
19,000 who made no statement of religious faith.
There are some twelve hospitals, asylums, and kindred establishments
for the afflicted, in the capital or Federal districts, as public
charities, and eight of a private nature, including the benevolent
societies and hospitals of the various foreign colonies, as the
Americans, Spanish, and others. Among the semi-charitable or benevolent
institutions must be mentioned the famous Monte de Piedad, or National
Pawnshop, which, as its name implies, carries on the business of such
for the benefit of poor people, who thus avoid the usurious rates of
interest of private pawnbrokers. This worthy institution was founded in
1775, by Terreros, Count of Regla, of mining fame, and during a single
month of 1907 the establishment and its branches loaned money to the
people against articles to the amount of nearly half a million _pesos_.
Of penal establishments the Penitentiary, opened in 1900, at a cost of
about two and a half million _pesos_, ranks first. It has a strict
scientific _regime_ for its inmates, with more than seven hundred cells
for convicts and others.
Some of the public buildings are good types of structure of the
colonial period. Among these is the Palacio Nacional, spacious and
massive, but monotonous and plain in its outward appearance. Here the
Government business is transacted, and this edifice occupies a whole
side of the Zocalo, or Plaza de Armas, with a long arcade of the
characteristic _portales_, or arches, facing the square, above the
footpath. It is of historic interest, having sheltered nearly all
Mexican rulers from Montezuma onwards, Cortes, the viceroys, Iturbide,
Maximilian, and all the Presidents in succession. The Palacio Municipal
is a somewhat similar structure also facing the plaza, and not far away
is the handsome building known as Mineria--the School of Mines--which
was founded by royal edict in 1813. This building, unfortunately, has
subsided somewhat into the soft subsoil. Within its spacious hall an
enormous meteorite confronts the view, brought there from a distant
part of the country, entire. The Geological Institute is another public
building of kindred nature. The famous Castle of Chapultepec, embowered
in its cypresses, and surrounded by its handsome park, is at a distance
of two miles away along the Paseo de la Reforma, before described, and
serves both as a summer residence for the President and as a military
academy. Around it is a public park. Here it was that the heroic
incident of the American War took place, of the young Mexican military
cadets and the national standard, which has been touched upon in the
historical chapter. A monument is erected here to their memory. A new
post-office was opened in the capital, in 1907, at a cost of three
million _pesos_, to cope with the growing postal business of the
Republic. Among the numerous public squares and gardens of the city is
the Alameda, dating from the time of Spanish rule. Six theatres of good
class and other minor ones attest the play-going inclinations of the
Mexicans, and a grand opera-house is in course of construction out of
the national exchequer, which is designed to bear comparison with that
of Paris. The Governments of Mexico, like those of Spanish-America
generally, consider it a natural part of their function to support
popular amusements of a refined nature. The foreigner might feel called
on to remark that this laudable motive might well be brought to bear
upon bull-fights, lotteries, and other institutions of a kindred
nature! The chief evil of the bull-fight is that it keeps alive the
love of the sight of bloodshed, which is naturally too strong in the
Mexican _peon_ without artificial stimulation, and its brutalising
tendency must go far to offset the good effects of education and
musical entertainment. As for the lotteries, they constitute a bad
moral; the petty gambling and principle of hoping to obtain something
for nothing is evil, and they are banned by all truly civilised
nations.
The chief club and sport centre of the wealthy Mexicans is the Jockey
Club, in a handsome old building in the plaza of Guardiola, and it is
considered a mark of distinction by the foreigner to be invited as
visiting member to this institution. The British and the American
Colonies each have comfortable club-houses, the Spanish their casino,
and the French and Germans their respective centres.
The Army of Mexico consists of some 28,000 officers and men, efficient
and disciplined, on a footing far superior to the dilapidated soldiery
that the traveller generally observes in, and ascribes to,
Spanish-America. The rank and file have that remarkable power of
performing long marches and heavy work on short rations, which
characterises the Spanish-American native soldier in times of stress.
Their officers receive an excellent training, and the military schools
are considered to take high rank as such. Every citizen, by law, is
obliged to serve in the army, but this is not necessarily carried out,
and needless to say the upper class, except as officers, do not figure
therein. A picturesque and remarkably efficient body of men are the
_rurales_, exceedingly expert horsemen, who range the country, and
whose work of the last few decades has entirely wiped out the prevalent
highway-robbery of earlier years. Mexico's Navy is small: she does not
require a large one, and it consists at present of two training ships,
five gunboats, and two transports.
[Illustration: MEXICAN ARTILLERY: A WAYSIDE ENCAMPMENT.]
The cost of living in the capital, like all other cities, varies much
according to style, but in general it may be considered high. Even
native produce is not cheap necessarily, whilst imported goods are very
expensive. Correspondingly high is the rent of houses or flats. The
houses of Mexico City are very generally constructed and let as
_viviendas_, or flats, usually of about six rooms to each floor, a
time-honoured arrangement among all classes. Such a flat, according to
its position, costs from 5 to 15 pounds sterling per month; and a
private house, such as in England would rent at, say, 200 pounds
sterling per annum, or, say, 300 pounds sterling in the United States,
brings 50 pounds sterling per month in Mexico City, whilst the rents in
the suburbs, and those of business establishments are scarcely less.
Such property is always expected to yield 12 to 15 per cent. per annum
upon the investment. The values of landed property or real estate in
the city have risen in an unprecedented manner of late years, from a
few cents per square yard a few years ago to 30s. or 50s. per square
yard at present, and they are still rising. The cost of building is
also exceedingly high. These conditions refer, of course, to the
capital. Elsewhere values are often exceedingly low.
The capital and the Federal District, which is that containing the city
and its suburban towns, are administered by _Ayuntamientos_, or
Municipal Councils, with Boards of Health and Department of Public
Works. The city is policed by mounted and unmounted _gendarmes_, a
total of some 2,300, and travellers may bear witness to the vigilance
and courtesy of these officials. Whilst the ordinary _gendarmes_ are
recruited from the Indian class largely, they are efficient. The
British traveller finds them as obliging as London police, in their
more humble sphere, and the American is startled at the possibilities
of official courtesy after the rude and aggressive policemen of the
United States. The water-supply of the city belongs to the Federal
authorities, and is being augmented from the springs of Xochimilco, as
the present amount _per capita_ of 137 litres is not sufficient. The
new works will ensure a _per capita_ supply of 400 litres, for a
population of 550,000 inhabitants. The lighting of the city and suburbs
is by electricity, and is efficiently performed, giving the capital the
reputation of being an excellently illumined community. A Canadian
Company, the Mexican Light and Power Company, holds the contract for
this work. The drainage and sewerage of the capital form a fine modern
sanitation system, which has recently been completed at a cost of
nearly six million _pesos_; and these works, in connection with the
great drainage canal and tunnel already described, form one of the most
perfect systems in the world, and a point of interest to visitors.
The system of electric tramways embodies more than 100 miles of line,
and gives an efficient urban service as well as furnishing
communication with the suburbs and residential towns, as Tacubaya, San
Angel, Tlalpam, Guadalupe, and others. There are still some 40 miles of
mule-car in operation, such as a few years ago existed over the whole
system. The mules were kept going at a gallop over these lines by the
incessant thwacking and shouts of the drivers, and the modern system,
if less picturesque, is more humane and speedier. The Mexicans, both
upper and lower class, are inveterate travellers--many of the latter
simply journey on the cars for amusement--and, picturesque and
ill-smelling, they crowd the third-class coaches on every journey. In
the year 1907 a total of nearly 65 million passengers were carried. The
enterprise is in the hands of Canadians--The Mexico Tramways Company,
in connection with the Mexico Electric Tramways, Limited, a British
corporation. The great plaza, the Zocalo, presents an animated scene
with the numerous starting and stopping cars on their incessant
journey; and the figures of the saints upon the cathedral facade gaze
stonily down upon the electric flashes from the trolley line, whilst
the native _peon_ and Indian on the cars has not yet ceased wondering
what power it is "that makes them go"!
Life in the City of Mexico for the foreigner contains much of varied
interest and colour, although he or she will have to support with
philosophy much that is incident upon its peculiar character. The
hotels often leave a good deal to be desired, yet they are sufficient
for the transient visitor, and the more permanent resident prefers to
take up his abode in a hired house. The former palace of Iturbide, a
building of handsome architectural form, with a _patio_ of noteworthy
style, forms one of the principal hotels. It has been shown that the
Republic contains a considerable foreign population, and in addition
there is a constantly floating one, brought about largely by American
tourists from the United States. The Americans and Spaniards are by far
the most numerous among the foreign element, and Great Britain is
represented mainly by the fine works of public utility constructed by
British contractors, and by other railway and banking interests.
British commercial enterprise in Mexico has almost entirely fallen away
of recent years, and has been supplanted by American and German
activity. Various reasons are assigned to this loss of a once paramount
commercial pre-eminence; possibly the real one lies in the diverting of
British enterprise to various parts of the British Empire, and also to
a slackening of activity from the great centres of British industry as
regards foreign lands, which seems to be apparent of recent years.
Capital does not venture forth so easily as it did some decades ago,
from the shores of Albion, due to a variety of causes.
A noticeable feature of Mexican business life in the capital is what
may be termed the Anglo-Saxon--or rather Anglo-American--invasion, for
of Britons there are but few in comparison with the ubiquitous American
from the United States; and smart, capable-looking men from New York,
or more generally from Chicago, or Kansas City, or St. Louis, or other
great commercial centres of the middle west, have set up numerous
offices and enterprises. They have brought a good deal of wealth into
the country, in the form of capital invested in mines and railways, and
Mexico has welcomed her _primos_, or cousins from the North, both for
their gold and for their spirit of enterprise. The class of American
business-man who goes to Mexico has much improved of late years; and
these _hijos del Tio Samuel_, "sons of Uncle Sam," as the Mexicans
sometimes jocularly dub them, are more representative of their country
than the doubtful element of a few years since. The junction of these
two tides of humanity which roll together but never mingle--the
Americans and the Mexicans--affords much matter for interesting
observation. The American influence on Mexican civilisation is partly
good, partly bad, but it cannot yet be considered more than a drop in
the ocean of change in the deep-seated Spanish individuality of the
Mexican people.
To sum up a mental impression of Mexico City, there rise before us the
old and the new on the threshold of change; the antique, the quaint,
and the refined, pressed close by the modern, the commercial, and the
cheap: the hand of a haughty Castilian hidalgo-spirit held forth to the
"cute" and business Yankee. But there is a great breach yet between the
Chicago "drummer," or the American land-shark; and the Mexican
gentleman. Here is a rich and developing soil, with--perhaps--some
benefit for the masses: a new civilisation in the making; a new people
being fashioned from an old; a plutocratic bulk trailing off into a
mass of white and red-clothed poor _peones_ and swarthy Indians.
Beautiful women, _serenatas_, bull-fights, courtesy, azure sky--all
have inscribed upon the traveller's mind a pleasing and semi-romantic
impression, a _conjunto_, whose interest and attraction, with perchance
a regretful note, time does not easily dispel.