Balloon--San Bartolo--Indian Women--A Beauty--Different
Castes--Indians--Their Character, etc.--Those of Noble Race--Ball at the
French Minister's-_Abecilta_--Danger of Walking Unattended--Shooting
Party--A Murder--Robbery of a Farmhouse--Discomfited Robber Captain--The
"_Zambos_"--Letters and Visitors--Country Life in Mexico.
23rd April.
We went to Mexico yesterday to see a balloon ascend from the Plaza de
Toros, with an aëronaut and his daughter; French people, I believe. The
scene was really beautiful. The plaza was filled with well-dressed people,
and all the boxes crowded with ladies in full toilet. The president was
there with his staff, and there were two bands of music. The day was
perfectly brilliant, and the streets crowded with handsome carriages, many
of them open. The balloon swayed itself up and down in the midst of the
plaza like a living thing. Everything seemed ready for the ascent, when it
was announced that there was a hole in the balloon, and that, consequently,
there could be no ascent that day. The people bore their disappointment
very good-humouredly, although it was conjectured that the _air traveller_
had merely proposed to himself to get their money, without the slightest
intention of performing his voyage. One amusing circumstance was, that some
penny-a-line rhymer had written an account of it in verse beforehand,
giving a most grandiloquent account of the ascent of the balloon; and when
we came out, the plaza was full of men selling these verses, which the
people were all buying and reading with roars of laughter.
The first of May being _San Felipe_, there will be a ball at the French
Minister's, to which we shall probably go.
25th.--We have just returned from a ride to San Bartolo, an Indian village,
four leagues from this, where we went with a large party, some on horses,
some on asses, others on mules, and one adventurous Jehu driving himself in
a four-wheeled carriage, with a pair of horses, over a road formed of ruts,
stones, holes, and rocks, where, I will venture to say, no carriage ever
made its appearance before. Even the horses and asses got along with
difficulty. In spite of large straw hats and green veils, we were burnt the
colour of red Indians. In the middle of the day we find the sun intolerable
at present, and, owing to the badness of the roads, we did not reach our
destination until twelve or one o'clock.
San Bartolo is a small, scattered Indian village, with a church, and is
remarkable for a beautiful spring of water, that jets cold and clear from
the hard rock, as if Moses had but just smote it; for its superb tall
pine-trees; for the good looks and cleanness of the Indian women, who are
for ever washing their long hair in the innumerable clear streamlets formed
by the spring; and for a view of Mexico, which is particularly favourable,
owing to the thick, dark screen of pine wood in the foreground, and the
distinct view of the Laguna. Our dinner was carried by Indians, who had
trotted off with it at day-dawn; but who had taken the wrong road, and did
not arrive till long after us. We dined under the pine-trees by the side of
the stream, but surrounded by crowds of gaping Indians, in too close
vicinity to be agreeable. Some of the young women were remarkably handsome,
with the most beautiful teeth imaginable, laughing and talking in their
native tongue at a great rate, as they were washing in the brooks, some
their hair and others their clothes. The men looked as dirty as Indians
generally do, and by no means on a level with these handsome damsels, who
are so much superior to the common race of Indians near Mexico, that one
would think they had some intermixture of Spanish blood in their veins. A
sister of the woman who takes charge of the hacienda where we live, is one
of the most beautiful creatures I ever beheld. Large eyes, with long dark
lashes, black hair nearly touching the ground, teeth like snow, a dark but
glowing complexion, a superb figure, with fine arms and hands, and small
beautifully-formed feet. All that is best of Indian and Spanish, "of dark
and bright," seems united in her. C---n says he has seen peasant women in
Andalusia in the same style of beauty, and quite as handsome. She is only
nineteen. Such beauties as these startle one every now and then in some
remote village. She belongs, no doubt, to the mestizos--the descendants of
whites and Indians, the handsomest race in Mexico.
You ask if the castes in Mexico are distinct. There are seven supposed to
be so. 1st, the Gachupinos, or Spaniards born in Europe; 2nd, the Creoles,
that is, whites of European family born in America; 3rd, the Mestizos; 4th,
the Mulattoes, descendants of whites and negroes, of whom there are few;
5th, the Zambos, descendants of negroes and Indians, the ugliest race in
Mexico; 6th, the Indians; and 7th, the remains of the African negroes.
Of pure Indians, Humboldt in his day calculated that there existed two
millions and a half in New Spain (without counting mestizos), and they are,
probably, very little altered from the inferior Indians, as Cortes found
them. The principal families perished at the time of the conquest. The
priests, sole depositaries of knowledge, were put to death; the manuscripts
and hieroglyphical paintings were burnt, and the remaining Indians fell
into that state of ignorance and degradation, from which they have never
emerged. The rich Indian women preferred marrying their Spanish conquerors
to allying themselves with the degraded remnant of their countrymen; poor
artisans, workmen, porters, etc., of whom Cortes speaks as filling the
streets of the great cities, and as being considered little better than
beasts of burden; nearly naked in _tierra caliente_, dressed pretty much as
they now are in the temperate parts of the country; and everywhere with
nearly the same manners, and habits, and customs, as they now have, but
especially in the more distant villages where they have little intercourse
with the other classes. Even in their religion, Christianity, as I observed
before, seems to be formed of the ruins of their mythology; and all these
festivities of the church, these fireworks, and images, and gay dresses,
harmonize completely with their childish love of show, and are, in fact,
their greatest source of delight. To buy these they save up all their
money, and when you give a penny to an Indian child, it trots off to buy
crackers, as another would to buy candy. Attempts have been made by their
curates to persuade them to omit the celebration of certain days, and to
expend less in the ceremonies of others, but the indignation and discontent
which such proposals have caused, have induced them to desist in their
endeavours.
Under an appearance of stupid apathy they veil a great depth of cunning.
They are grave and gentle and rather sad in their appearance, when not
under the influence of pulque; but when they return to their villages in
the evening, and have taken a drop of comfort, their white teeth light up
their bronze countenances like lamps, and the girls especially make the air
ring with their laughter, which is very musical. I think it is Humboldt who
says that their smile is extremely gentle, and the expression of their eyes
very severe. As they have no beard, if it were not for a little moustache,
which they frequently wear on the upper lip, there would be scarcely any
difference between the faces of men and women.
The Indians in and near the capital are, according to Humboldt, either the
descendants of the former labourers, or are remains of noble Indian
families, who, disdaining to intermarry with their Spanish conquerors,
preferred themselves to till the ground which their vassals formerly
cultivated for them. It is said that these Indians of noble race, though to
the vulgar eye undistinguishable from their fellows, are held in great
respect by their inferior countrymen. In Cholula, particularly, there are
still caciques with long Indian names; also in Tlascala--and though
barefoot and ragged, they are said to possess great hidden wealth. But it
is neither in or near the capital that we can see the Indians to perfection
in their original state. It is only by travelling through the provinces
that we can accomplish this; and should the lateness of the season oblige
us to remain here any time after another Minister arrives, we may probably
take a longer journey in some different direction from _tierra caliente_,
where we may see some tribes of the indigenous Mexicans. Certainly no
visible improvement has taken place in their condition since the
independence. They are quite as poor and quite as ignorant, and quite as
degraded as they were in 1808, and if they do raise a little grain of their
own, they are so hardly taxed that the privilege is as nought.
May 2nd--We returned from Mexico this morning, having gone in to attend the
ball given at the French Minister's, on the day of Louis Philippe. It was
very pretty, and we stayed till it was very late. We met with such a
cordial reception from all our friends, whom we have not seen for a month,
that we are tempted to believe ourselves as much missed in Mexico as they
say we are. The Señora L---- and the E----s were amongst the best dressed
Mexican ladies last night; the latter in white crape and diamonds, and the
other in black blonde over rose-colour, also with diamonds. The Señora
A----, who went with us, looked very pretty in a white blonde dress, with a
small black velvet turban rolled round with large diamonds and pearls.
There were a great number of small crimson velvet turbans, and an amazing
number of black blonde dresses. There were certainly some very pretty
women. The _corps diplomatique_ went in uniform.
7th--Abecilta, a favourite Spanish actor, died a few days ago, and, as
C---n took several boxes on the night of a play given for the benefit of
his widow, we went in to the theatre on Saturday last. We are now looking
out for another house in Mexico, for when the rainy season begins we shall
find this too far from the city for C----n, who is obliged to be there
constantly.
We ventured to take a walk alone yesterday morning through the lanes, down
to San Angel and Coyohuacan, for which piece of imprudence we were severely
reprehended, and to-day it appears that two women had been robbed and
ill-treated on the road near here; so we are too ready to subscribe to the
renewal of our sentence of imprisonment in the house and orchard, when we
have no gentlemen with us; but it must be confessed that it takes greatly
from the charms of a country life, not to be able to walk out
fearlessly....
The quietness and stillness of this place is incredible. There is actually
not a sound in the air; not a sight but a ragged Indian. The garden is in
great beauty. The apricots are ripe and abundant. The roses are in full
blow; and there is a large pomegranate-tree at the gate of the orchard,
which is one mass of ponçeau blossom. It is much warmer in the middle of
the day this summer than it was last.
We spent a pleasant day lately at a great hacienda a few leagues from this,
belonging to a Spanish millionaire, on occasion of a shooting party. We
went there to breakfast, and afterwards set off on horseback, sitting
sideways on _men's_ saddles, to see the sport. It would have been very
agreeable but for the heat. The sportsmen were not very successful;--saw a
flight of rose-coloured flamingoes, who sailed high over their heads,
unhurt; killed some very handsome birds called _trigueros_, with beautiful
yellow plumage, and some ducks. The trigueros are considered a delicacy. We
rode with the administrador all round the estate, which is very productive
and profitable. He told us that they sell in Mexico, annually, fifteen
thousand dollars' worth of corn, and ten thousand dollars' worth of milk,
sending in this produce in canoes, by the canal which passes this way. We
dismounted from our horses in a green meadow covered with daisies and
buttercups, which, from association, I prefer to the tuberoses and
pomegranate blossom, which now adorn the gardens. The Señor ----- gave us
an excellent dinner _a l'Espagnole_; after which I made an attempt to fire
at some birds which shook their tails, and flew away in the most
contemptuous manner....
The new Secretary of Legation, Señor T----, and the new attache, Señor
G----, have just arrived in Mexico.
10th.--The Baron and Madame de -----, with their secretary, the Count de
B----, came out yesterday morning unexpectedly to breakfast, and spent the
day with us.
13th.--We went out with C---n last evening, to take a walk; when a man
rushed by us in a state of great agitation, and on going further we met
some workmen, who told us that an Indian labourer had stabbed a man in the
next field, and that he had died before a padre could be procured. We heard
the cries of his wife and children, and A----, crossing the ditch that
bordered the field, went to see the man. He was a master-workman, or
director, and had found fault with one of the men for his idleness. High
words ensued, and the labourer (probably the man who had passed us) drew
his knife and stabbed him. He was lying stone dead, with his hand half cut
through in his efforts to defend himself. A---- asked an administrador, who
was standing near, what would be done to the guilty man. "Probably
nothing," said he, shrugging his shoulders; "we have no judges to punish
crime." This rencounter, as you may believe, took away from us all
inclination to pursue our rambles.
There is a pretty farmhouse in the village, in which we took shelter the
other day from a shower of rain. The farmers are civil and respectful, a
superior kind of people, with good manners rather above their station. The
daughters are good-looking, and the house clean and neat. One of the girls
gave me an account of a nocturnal visit which the robbers paid them last
winter. She showed me the little room where she was alone and asleep, when
her mother and sister, who slept in the chamber adjoining, being wakened by
the breaking in of their door, sprang out of the window to make their
escape, and she was left in the house alone. She jumped out of bed and
bolted the door (her room had no other egress), and there she held a parley
with these night visitors, promising to unlock every drawer and closet, if
they would wait till she put on her clothes, and would do her no personal
injury. The agreement was made, and they kept their word. They cleared the
house of every article it contained, leaving nothing but the blanket in
which the girl had wrapped herself. All their clothes, household utensils,
money, everything was carried off with astonishing precision; and having
made her swear not to move till they had time to leave the village, they
paid her no further attention. The other women, who had given the alarm,
found no one inclined to move in the middle of the night against a party
whose numbers their fears had probably magnified.
The administrador gave us an amusing account this evening of a visit which
a band of no less than thirty robbers once ventured to pay this strong and
well-defended hacienda. He was living there alone, that is, without the
family, and had just barred and bolted everything for the night, but had
not yet locked the outer gate, when looking out from his window into the
courtyard by moonlight, he saw a band of robbers ride up to the door. He
instantly took his measures, and seizing the great keys, ran up the little
stair that leads to the azotea, locking the gate by which he passed, and,
calling to the captain by name (for the robbers were headed by a noted
chieftain), requested to know what he wanted at that hour of the night. The
captain politely begged him to come downstairs and he would tell him; but
the agent, strong in the possession of his great keys, and well knowing the
solidity of the iron-barred windows, continued his parley in a high tone.
The captain rode round, examined everything with a practised eye, and found
that it would require a regular siege to make good his entry. He
threatened, entreated, observed that he would be content with a small sum
of money, but all in vain. There stood the sturdy administrador on the
housetop, and there sat the captain on his horse below, something like the
fox and the crow; but the agent with the keys was wiser than the crow and
her cheese, for no cajoling would induce him to let them out of his grasp;
and worse than all, shooting him would have done them no good. At last the
captain, finding himself entirely outwitted, took off his hat, politely
wished the agent a very good night, drew off his men and departed.
Another time, being also alone, he was attacked in broad daylight by two
men who came under pretence of buying pulque; but having time to get hold
of a sword, he overpowered one, which frightened the other, upon which they
both began to laugh, and assured him it was mere experiment to see what he
would do--a perfect jest, which he pretended to believe, but advised them
not to try it again, as it was too good a joke to be repeated. Señor -----
pointed out to us the other day a well-known robber captain, who was riding
on the high road with a friend. He had the worst-looking, most vulgar, and
most villainous face I ever saw; a low-lived and most unpoetic-looking
ruffian; fat and sallow.
We saw a horribly ugly man to-day, and were told he was a _lobo_, the name
given here to the _Zambos_; who are the most frightful human beings that
can be seen. La Güera Rodriguez told us that on an estate of hers, one
woman of that race was in the habit of attending church, and that she was
so fearfully hideous, the priest had been obliged to desire her to remain
at home, because she distracted the attention of the congregation!
We spent yesterday at the house of the ----- Minister at San Angel, where
he gave us and the ----- Minister and his family a beautiful breakfast. How
consistent everything looks in a good English house! so handsome without
being gaudy--the plate so well cleaned, the servants so well trained.
June 8th.--We were sitting under an apple-tree the other day, trying to
tame the fiercest little deer I ever saw, who was butting and kicking with
all his might, when a large packet of letters was brought us, the reading
of which insured us an agreeable afternoon. We continue to lead a very
quiet life here, occasionally taking a short ride in the evening, and
making acquaintance with the neighbouring villages, the prettiest of which
is Tesapan, a most rural and leafy spot, where there are fine fruit trees,
plenty of water, and good-looking peasant-girls. Sometimes we go to San
Antonio to see the V---o family; occasionally to San Agustin, where they
are preparing for the great fête. We are in treaty for a house in Mexico,
having now given up all idea of passing through Vera Cruz this summer. We
are in hopes of having that of the late Marquesa de San Roman, who died
some time ago, but the delays that take place in any transaction connected
with a house in Mexico, and the difficulty of obtaining a decisive answer,
are hard trials of patience.
We generally have a number of visitors from Mexico on Sunday, and those who
come in carriages may be considered as real friends, for they decidedly
risk their necks, not to mention their carriage-springs at a _bad bit_ on
the road, which the owners, who are Indians, will not allow any one to mend
for them, and will not mend themselves. When we reach it, we are obliged
regularly to get out of the carriage, go about a hundred yards on foot, and
then remain in much anxiety at the top of the hill, till we see whether or
not the carriage arrives unbroken, which it rarely does. A few dollars
would make it perfectly safe.
Our chief visitors during the week are from the Carmelite convent of San
Angel. The old _padre guardian_ is about eighty. Each convent has a prior,
but the padre guardian exercises authority over all the convents of his
order as well as over his own.
There are many excellent houses and fine gardens in San Angel, and a number
of families from Mexico are now there for the season. Tacubaya and all the
environs are beginning to be occupied, and Mexico looks warm and deserted.
But there are so few incidents in our quiet life among the magueys, that I
shall write no more till we return from San Agustin after the fête. If you
wish to hear how we pass our time, you must know that we generally rise
about six, and go out into the orchard and stroll about, or sit down with a
book in a pleasant arbour at the end of one of the walks, which is
surrounded by rose-bushes, and has a little stream of water running past
it. Nor do we ever enter the orchard unarmed with a long pole, for its
entrance is guarded by a flock of angry geese, hissing like the many-headed
Hydra that watched over the golden apples of the Hesperides. At eight we
breakfast, and by nine the sun is already powerful enough to prevent us
from leaving the house. We therefore sit down to read or write, and do
occasionally take a game at billiards. C---n generally rides to Mexico, but
if not, goes up to the azotea with a book, or writes in his study until
four o'clock, when we dine.
After dinner we walk into the village, if we have any attendant esquire; if
not, we go to the azotea and see the sun set behind the volcanoes, or walk
in the garden till it is dark, and then sit down in the front of the house,
and look at the lights in Mexico. Then we have tea or chocolate--and the
candles are lighted--and the last Indian workman has gone off to his
village--and the house is barred in, and we sit down to read, or write or
talk, or sometimes we play billiards by lamp-light. And then indeed the
silence and the solitude make us feel as if the world were completely shut
out. I never experienced such perfect stillness. Even the barking of a dog
sounds like an event. Therefore, expect no amusing letters from this place;
for though we are very comfortable, there are no incidents to relate. The
Indians come in the morning to drink pulque, (which, by the way, I now
think excellent, and shall find it very difficult to live without!) a
little child from the village brings us some bouquets of flowers, which the
Indians have a pretty way of arranging in a pineapple or pyramidal form;
the Chinese cook, with his little slits of eyes, passes by with meat and
fruit which he has been buying at the market of San Angel; the prior
saunters in to see how we are--a chance visitor comes on horseback from
Mexico, with a long sword by his side, as if he were going to fight the
Saracens. And excepting that a padre came last Sunday and said mass to us
in the pretty little chapel of the hacienda, which saved us the trouble of
going down to the village, and, moreover, took chocolate with us
afterwards, there has been nothing to vary the usual routine of our country
life.