Leave Mexico--Cuernavaca--_Tierra Caliente_--_Atlacamulco_--Orange
Groves--Sugar-cane--Annual Produce--Will of Cortes--Description--Coffee
Plantation--Scorpions--List of Venemous Reptiles--_Acapansingo_--Doubts and
Difficulties--A Decision.
ATLACAMULCO, February 2nd.
A quiet day in a hospitable country-house, too sunny to go out, and nothing
else to do, are temptations sufficient to induce me to sit down and give
you an account of our proceedings during these last two days. Yesterday,
the first of February, at four in the morning, very sleepy, we set off in
the diligence which we had taken for ourselves; our sole luggage, two
portmanteaus and a carpet bag; our dresses, dark strong calico gowns, large
Panama hats, rebosos tied on like scarfs, and thick green barege veils. A
government escort of four soldiers with a corporal, renewed four times,
accompanied us as far as Cuernavaca, which is about eighteen leagues from
Mexico, and the entrance as it were to _tierra caliente_. These are
supposed sufficient to frighten away three times the number of robbers,
whose daring, however, has got to such a height, that no diligence now
arrives from Puebla without being robbed. Six robberies have happened there
in the last fortnight, and the road to Cuernavaca is said to be still more
dangerous. We took chocolate before starting, and carried with us a basket
of cold meat and wine, as there is nothing on the road that can be called
an inn. When we set off it was cool, almost cold; the astral lamps were
out, and the great solar lamp was not yet lighted.
"But soon, like lobster boiled, the morn,
From black to red began to turn."
By the time we had reached San Agustin, where we changed horses, the sun
had risen, enabling us to see all the horrors of the road, which, after
leaving that beautiful village with its trees and gardens, winds over the
mountain, amongst great volcanic rocks, a toilsome ascent; and passes by
the village of Ajusco, a miserable robber's nest. Yet the view, as we
looked back from this barren tract, while the sun was breaking over the
summits of the mountains, was very grand in its mixture of fertility and
wildness, in its vast extent of plains and villages with their groves and
gardens, and in its fine view of Mexico itself, white and glittering in the
distance. The mountain of Ajusco, clothed with dark forests of pine,
frowned on our right, and looked worthy of its brigand haunted reputation.
At La Guarda, a collection of miserable huts, we changed horses, and
declined some suspicious-looking frijoles in dirty saucers, which were
offered to us; a proof both that we were young travellers in this country,
and that we had not exhausted our basket of civilized provender.
The road wound round through a succession of rocks and woods till we
reached _Cruz del Marques_--the Marquis being of course Cortes, while the
cross, it is said, was planted there by him to mark the limits of his
territory, or rather of that which the Indian Emperor had assigned him.
About two o'clock the heat became intense, and we began to see and to feel
symptoms of our approach to _tierra caliente_.
We arrived at the Indian village of _Huichilaque_, which is rather pretty,
with cane cottages and a good many flowering trees; and from the eminence
on which it is situated, the _hot land_ is visible.
The diligence now began galloping down the rocky and stony descent. The
country looked even more arid than before; the vegetation more dried up.
Not a tree--but here and there, at long intervals, a feathery cocoa or a
palm, and occasionally some beautiful, unknown wild flowers. But the heat,
the dust, the jolting! When at length we rattled through Cuernavaca, and
stopped before the quiet-looking inn, it was with joy that we bade adieu,
for some time at least, to all diligences, coaches, and carriages; having
to trust for the future to four-legged conveyances, which we can guide as
we please.
Cuernavaca (_cow's horn_), the ancient Quauhnahuac, was one of the thirty
cities which Charles the Fifth gave to Cortes, and afterwards formed part
of the estates of the Duke of Monteleone, representative of the family of
Cortes, as Marquis of the Valley of Oajaca. It was celebrated by the
ancient writers for its beauty, its delightful climate, and the strength of
its situation; defended on one side by steep mountains, and on the other by
a precipitous ravine, through which ran a stream which the Spaniards
crossed by means of two great trees that had thrown their branches across
the barranca, and formed a natural bridge. It was the capital of the
Tlahuica nation, and, after the conquest, Cortes built here a splendid
palace, a church, and a convent of Franciscans, believing that he had laid
the foundation of a great city. And in fact, its delicious climate, the
abundance of the water, the minerals said to exist in the neighbourhood,
its fine trees, delicious fruits, and vicinity to the capital, all combined
to render it a flourishing city. It is, however, a place of little
importance, though so favoured by nature; and the conqueror's palace is a
half-ruined barrack, though a most picturesque object, standing on a hill,
behind which starts up the great white volcano. There are some good houses,
and the remains of the church which Cortes built, celebrated for its bold
arch; but we were too tired to walk about much, and waited most anxiously
for the arrival of horses and men from the sugar estate of Don Anselmo
Zurutuza, at Atlacamulco; where we were to pass the night. The house where
the diligence stopped was formerly remarkable for the fine garden attached
to it, and belonged to a wealthy proprietor. We sat down amongst the fruit
trees, by the side of a clear tank, and waited there till the arrival of
our horses and guides. It was nearly dusk when they came--the sun had gone
down, the evening was cool and agreeable, and after much kicking and
spurring and loading of mules and barking of dogs, we set off over hill and
dale, through pretty wild scenery, as far as we could distinguish by the
faint light, climbing hills and crossing streams for two leagues; till at
length the fierce fires, pouring from the sugar oven chimneys of
Atlacamulco, gave us notice that we were near our haven for the night. We
galloped into the courtyard, amongst dogs and negroes and Indians, and were
hospitably received by the administrador (the agent). Greatly were we
divided between sleep and hunger; but hunger gained the victory, and an
immense smoking supper received our most distinguished attention.
This morning, after a refreshing sleep, we rose and dressed at eight
o'clock--late hours for _tierra caliente_--and then went out into the
coffee plantation and orange walk. Anything so lovely! The orange-trees
were covered with their golden fruit and fragrant blossom; the lemon-trees,
bending over, formed a natural arch, which the sun could not pierce. We
laid ourselves down on the soft grass, contrasting this day with the
preceding. The air was soft and balmy, and actually heavy with the
fragrance of the orange blossom and starry jasmine. All round the orchard
ran streams of the most delicious clear water, trickling with sweet music,
and now and then a little cardinal, like a bright red ruby, would perch on
the trees. We pulled bouquets of orange blossom, jasmines, lilies, double
red roses, and lemon leaves, and wished we could have transported them to
you, to those lands where winter is now wrapping the world in his white
winding-sheet.
The gardener, or coffee-planter--such a gardener!--Don Juan by name, with
an immense black beard, Mexican hat, and military sash of crimson silk,
came to offer us some orangeade; and having sent to the house for sugar and
tumblers, pulled the oranges from the trees, and drew the water from a
clear tank overshadowed by blossoming branches, and cold as though it had
been iced. There certainly is no tree more beautiful than the orange, with
its golden fruit, shining green leaves and lovely white blossom with so
delicious a fragrance. We felt this morning as if Atlacamulco was an
earthly paradise.
It belongs in fact to the Duke of Monteleone, and is let by his agent, Don
Luis Alaman, to Señor Zurutuza. Its average annual produce of silver is
about thirty thousand _arrobas_, (an arroba containing twenty-five pounds).
The sugar-cane was unknown to the ancient Mexicans, who made syrup of
honey, and also from the maguey, and sugar from the stalk of maize. The
sugar-cane was introduced by the Spaniards from the Canary Islands to Santo
Domingo, from whence it passed to Cuba and Mexico. The first sugar-canes
were planted in 1520, by Don Pedro de Atienza. The first cylinders were
constructed by Gonzalo de Velosa, and the first sugar mills built by the
Spaniards at that time were worked by hydraulic wheels and not by horses.
M. de Humboldt, who examined the will of Cortes, informs us that the
conqueror had left sugar plantations near Cuyoacan, in the valley of
Mexico, where now, owing, it is supposed, to the cutting down of the trees,
the cold is too great for sugar-cane or any other tropical production to
thrive. There are few negroes on these sugar plantations. Their numbers
have not increased since their introduction. We observed but one old negro,
said to be upwards of a hundred, who was working in the courtyard as we
passed; the generality of the workmen are Indians.
As for the interior of these haciendas, they are all pretty much alike, so
far as we have seen; a great stone building, which is neither farm nor
country-house (according to our notions), but has a character peculiar to
itself--solid enough to stand a siege, with floors of painted brick, large
deal tables, wooden benches, painted chairs, and whitewashed walls; one or
two painted or iron bedsteads, only put up when wanted; numberless empty
rooms; kitchen and outhouses; the courtyard a great square, round which
stand the house for boiling the sugar, whose furnaces blaze day and night;
the house, with machinery for extracting the juice from the cane, the
refining rooms, the places where it is dried, etc., all on a large scale.
If the hacienda is, as here, a coffee plantation also, then there is the
great mill for separating the beans from the chaff, and sometimes also
there are buildings where they make brandy. Here there are four hundred men
employed, exclusive of boys, one hundred horses, and a number of mules. The
property is generally very extensive, containing the fields of sugar-cane,
plains for cattle, and the pretty plantations of coffee, so green and
spring-like, this one containing upwards of fifty thousand young plants,
all fresh and vigorous, besides a great deal of uncultivated ground,
abandoned to the deer and hares and quails, of which there are great
abundance. For four months in the year, _tierra caliente_ must be a
paradise, and it has the advantage over the coasts, in being quite free
from yellow fever. But the heat in summer, and the number of poisonous
insects, are great drawbacks. Of these, the _alacrans_, or scorpions, which
haunt all the houses, are amongst the worst. Their bite is poisonous, and,
to a child, deadly, which is one of the many reasons why these estates are
left entirely to the charge of an agent, and though visited occasionally by
the proprietor, rarely lived in by the family. The effects are more or less
violent in different constitutions. Some persons will remain for eight days
in convulsions, foaming at the mouth, and the stomach swelled, as if by
dropsy; others, by immediate remedies, do not suffer much. The chief cures
are brandy, taken in sufficient quantities to stupefy the patient, guyacum
and boiled silk, which last is considered most efficacious. In Durango they
are particularly numerous and venomous, so that a reward in given for so
many _head_ of scorpions to the boys there, to encourage them to destroy
them. The Señora -----, who lives there, feels no inconvenience from their
bite, but the scorpion who bites her immediately dies! It is pretended that
they prefer dark people to fair, which is to suppose them very
discriminating. Though as yet there have been few seen in the houses, I
must confess that we feel rather uneasy at night, and scrupulously examine
our beds and their environs before venturing to go to sleep. The walls
being purposely whitewashed, it is not difficult to detect them; but where
the roofs are formed of beams, they are very apt to drop through.
There are other venomous reptiles, for whose sting there is no remedy, and
if you would like to have a list of these interesting creatures, according
to the names by which they are known in these parts, I can furnish you with
one from the best authority. These, however, are generally to be found
about outhouses, and only occasionally visit your apartments. There is the
_chicaclina_, a striped viper, of beautiful colours--the _coralillo_, a
viper of a coral colour, with a black head--the _vinagrillo_, an animal
like a large cricket. You can discover it, when in the room, by its strong
smell of vinegar. It is orange-coloured, and taps upon the person whom it
crawls over, without giving any pain, but leaving a long train of deadly
poison--I have fancied that I smelt vinegar in every room since hearing
this--the _salamanquesa_, whose bite is fatal: it is shaped like a
lizard--the _eslaboncillo_, which throws itself upon you, and if prevented
from biting you, dies of spite--the _cencoatl_, which has five feet, and
shines in the dark; so that fortunately a warning is given of the vicinity
of these animals in different ways; in some by the odour they exhale, in
some by the light they emit, and in others, like the rattlesnake, by the
sound they give out.
Then there is a beautiful black and red spider, called the _chinclaquili_,
whose sting sends a pain through all your bones; the only cure for which is
to be shut up for several days in a room thick with smoke. There are also
the _tarantula_ and _casampulga_ spiders. Of the first, which is a
shocking-looking soft fat creature, covered with dark hair, it is said that
the horse which treads on it instantly loses its hoof--but this wants
confirmation. Of the scorpions, the small yellowish coloured ones are the
most dangerous, and it is pretended that their bite is most to be
apprehended at midday. The workmen occasionally eat them, after pulling out
the sting. The flesh of the viper is also eaten roasted, as a remedy
against eruptions of the skin. Methinks the remedy is worse than the
disease....
But to banish this _creeping_ subject, which seems not at all in unison
with the lovely scenes that surround us--an Eden where no serpent should
enter--we have been riding this evening to a beautiful little Indian
village called _Acapansingo_, than which I never beheld anything prettier
in its way. Some few houses there are of stone, but the generality are of
cane, and each cottage is surrounded by its fruit-trees, and by others
covered with lilac or white blossoms, and twined with creepers. The lanes
or streets of the village are cleanly swept, and shaded by the blossoming
branches that overhang them; while every now and then they are crossed by
little streams of the purest water. I think I never knew what really
delicious water was till I came here. The Indians, both men and women,
looked clean, and altogether this is the prettiest Indian village we have
yet seen.
As we are very anxious to visit the celebrated cave of Cacauamilpa, near
the city of Cautlamilpa, and also to see as much of _tierra caliente_ as
possible, we have determined, though with regret, to leave our present
quarters at Atlacamulto to-morrow morning, at two o'clock A.M. As there are
no inns, we are furnished with letters of recommendation to the proprietors
of the chief haciendas in these parts. Formerly there was so much
hospitality here, that an annual sum (three thousand dollars it is said)
was assigned by the proprietors to their agents, for the reception of
travellers, whether rich or poor, and whether recommended or not....
Our plan of visiting the cave has been nearly frustrated by the arrival of
General C---s, a neighbouring proprietor, who assured us that we were going
to undertake an impossibility; that the barrancas, by which we must pass to
arrive at the cave, were impassable for women, the mountain paths being so
steep and perpendicular, that men and horses had frequently fallen
backwards in the ascent, or been plunged forward over the precipices, in
attempting to descend. We were in despair, when it was suggested that there
was another, though much longer road to the cave, by which we might ride;
and though our time is at present very precious, we were too glad to agree
to this compromise.
C---n and A---- have returned from a shooting expedition, in which they
have not been very successful; and though I have only recounted to you the
beginning of our adventures, I must stop here, and take a few hours' rest
before we set off on our _matinal_ expedition.