On leaving the fascinating village of Curu, we began to ascend _La Cuesta_;
and travelled slowly four leagues of mountain-road, apparently
inaccessible; but the sure-footed horses, though stepping on loose and
nearly precipitous rocks, rarely stumbled. The mountain of Curu is
volcanic, a chaos of rent rocks, beetling precipices, and masses of lava
that have been disgorged from the burning crater. Yet from every crag and
crevice of the rock spring the most magnificent trees, twisted with
flowering parasites, shrubs of the brightest green, and pale delicate
flowers, whose gentle hues seem all out of place in this savage scene.
Beside the forest oak and the stern pine, the tree of the white blossoms,
the graceful _floripundio_, seems to seek for shelter and support. Creepers
that look like scarlet honeysuckles, and flowering vines of every variety
of colour, hang in bright garlands and festoons, intwining the boughs of
the trees; adorning, but not concealing the masses of bare rock and the
precipitous crag that frowns amidst all this luxury of vegetation. The
whole scene is "horribly beautiful."
As we wound through these picturesque paths, where only one can go at a
time, our train stretched out to an immense distance, and the scarlet
streamers and lances of the soldiers looked very picturesque, appearing and
then vanishing amongst the rocks and trees. At one part, looking back to
see the effect, I caught the eye of the robber Morales, glaring with such a
frightful expression, that, forgetful of his chains, I whipped up my horse
in the greatest consternation, over stones and rocks. He and the scene were
in perfect unison.
At length we came to the end of this extraordinary mountain-forest, and
after resting the tired horses for a little while, in a grove of pines and
yellow acacias, entered the most lovely little wood, a succession of
flowers and shrubs, and bright green grass, with vistas of fertile
cornfields bordered by fruit trees-a peaceful scene, on which the eye rests
with pleasure, after passing through these wild, volcanic regions.
On leaving the woods, the path skirts along by the side of these fields,
and leads to the valley where Uruapa, the gem of the Indian villages, lies
in tranquil beauty. It has indeed some tolerable streets and a few good
houses; but her boast is in the Indian cottages-all so clean and snug, and
tasteful, and buried in fruit trees.
We rode through shady lanes of trees, bending under the weight of oranges,
_chirimoyas, granaditas, platanos_, and every sort of delicious fruit. We
found that, through the kindness of Señor Ysasaga, the principal person
here, the curate's house had been prepared to receive us--an old
unfurnished house next the church, and at present unoccupied, its owner
being absent. We found the whole family extremely kind and agreeable; the
father a well-informed, pleasant old gentleman, the mother still beautiful,
though in bad health; and all the daughters pretty and unaffected. One is
married to a brother of Madame Yturbide's. They made many apologies for not
inviting us to their own house, which is under repair; but as it is but a
few steps off, we shall spend most of our time with them. It seems strange
to meet such people in this secluded spot! Yet, peaceful and solitary as it
appears, it has not escaped the rage of civil war, having been burnt down
four different times by insurgents and by Spaniards. Señor Ysasaga, who
belongs to Valladolid, has taken an active part in all these revolutions,
having been the personal friend and partisan of Hidalgo. His escapes and
adventures would fill a volume.
I could not help taking one last look of the robbers, as we entered this
beautiful place, where Morales at least is to be shot. It seemed to me as
if they had grown perfectly deathlike. The poor wretches must be tired
enough, having come on foot all the way from Pascuaro.
31st.--This place is so charming, we have determined to pitch our tent in
it for a few days. Our intention was to proceed twenty leagues farther, to
see the volcano of Jorullo; but as the road is described to us as being
entirely devoid of shade, and the heat almost insupportable--with various
other difficulties and drawbacks--we have been induced, though with great
regret, to abandon the undertaking, which it is as tantalizing to do, as it
is to reflect that yesterday we were but a short distance from a hill which
is but thirty leagues from the Pacific Ocean.
In 1813, M. de Humboldt and M. Bonpland, ascended to the crater of this
burning mountain, which was formed in September 1759. Its birth was
announced by earthquakes, which put to flight all the inhabitants of the
neighbouring villages; and three months after, a terrible eruption burst
forth, which filled all the inhabitants with astonishment and terror, and
which Humboldt considers one of the most extraordinary physical revolutions
that ever took place on the surface of the globe.
Flames issued from the earth for the space of more than a square league.
Masses of burning rock were thrown to an immense height, and through a
thick cloud of ashes, illuminated by the volcanic fire, the whitened crust
of the earth was gradually seen swelling up. The ashes even covered the
roofs of the houses at Querétaro, forty-eight leagues distance! and the
rivers of San Andrés and Cuitumba sank into the burning masses. The flames
were seen from Pascuaro; and from the hills of Agua-Zarca was beheld the
birth of this volcanic mountain, the burning offspring of an earthquake,
which bursting from the bosom of the earth, changed the whole face of the
country for a considerable distance round.
"And now, the glee
Of the loud hills shakes with its mountain mirth,
As if they did rejoice o'er a young earthquake's birth."
Here the earth returned the salutation, and shook, though it was with
fearful mirth, at the birth of the young volcano.
In a letter written at the time of the event to the bishop of Michioacán by
the curate of the neighbouring village, he says, that the eruption finished
by destroying the hacienda of Jorullo, and killing the trees, which were
thrown down and buried in the sand and ashes vomited by the mountain. The
fields and roads were, he says, covered with sand, the crops destroyed, and
the flocks perishing for want of food, unable to drink the pestilential
water of the mountains. The rivulet that ran past his village was swelled
to a mighty river, that threatened to inundate it; and he adds, that the
houses, churches, and hospitals are ready to fall down from the weight of
the sand and the ashes--and that "the very people are so covered with the
sand, that they seem to have come out of some sepulchre." The great
eruptions of the volcano continued till the following year, but have
gradually become rarer, and at present have ceased.
Having now brought our journey to its furthest limits, I shall conclude
this letter.