the various phases of the situation and fighting mosquitoes--which
would bite through our garments at any point where they happened to
alight--with no prospect of any rest during the entire night, we found
ourselves wrought up to such a mutinous state of mind that it appeared
inevitable that something must be done, and that quickly. We directed
our interpreter to awaken the owner of the boat and explain the facts
to him, which he did. He told him that we had become desperate and that
if not landed in Tuxpam in forty-eight hours we purposed putting both
him and his man ashore, dumping the cargo, and taking the boat back to
Tampico; that we would not be fooled with any longer, and that if he
offered any resistance both he and his man would be ejected by main
force. The interpreter was a tall, powerful man, standing six feet and
two inches in his stocking feet, and had a commanding voice. He had
spent several years on the Mexican frontier along the Rio Grande, and
understood the Mexicans thoroughly. He needed only the suggestion from
us in order to lay the law down to them in a manner not to be mistaken
for jesting. This he did for at least ten minutes with scarcely a break
of sufficient duration to catch his breath. The boatman, thinking
that we were of easy-going, good-natured dispositions, had been quite
indifferent to our remonstrances, but he was now completely overwhelmed
with astonishment at this sudden outburst. He begged to be given
another trial, and said he would not make another stop, except to rest
at night, until we reached Tuxpam. We passed a sleepless night with
the mosquitoes, frogs, cranes, pelicans, ducks--and perhaps a dozen
other varieties of insects and waterfowl--all buzzing, quacking and
squawking in unison on every side. In the morning my physical condition
was not improved. A little after noon we approached a small settlement
on the border of the lake, and stopped to see if we could obtain some
medicine and provisions. Our interpreter found what seemed to be the
principal man of the place, who took us into his house and provided us
with a very good dinner and a couple of quart bottles of Madeira. I had
partaken of no food for nearly thirty-six hours, and was unable now to
eat anything. We explained to him about the smallpox episode and he
agreed that I had all the customary symptoms of the disease. I wrote a
message to be despatched by courier to Tampico and from there cabled
home, but on second thought it seemed unwise to disturb my family
when it was utterly impossible for any of them to reach me speedily,
so I tore it up. We arranged for a canoe and four men to start that
night and hurry us back to Tampico with all possible speed. The member
of our party who had been suffering with headache and dizziness had
eaten a hearty dinner, and having had a few glasses of Madeira he was
indifferent as to which way he went. During the afternoon I slept for
several hours and about seven o'clock awoke, feeling much better.
Not desiring to be the cause of abandoning the trip, I had them
postpone the return to Tampico until morning. Meanwhile we paid off
our boatman, as we had determined to proceed no further with him under
any conditions. He remained over night, however. In the morning I felt
much better and the fever had left me. We decided to change our plans
for return, and to go "on to Tuxpam;" in fact this had now become our
watchword. We had had enough of travel by water, and finding a man who
claimed to know the route overland we bargained with him to furnish us
with four horses and to act as guide, the price to be $100. He also
took along an extra guide. The distance, he said, was seventy-five
miles, and that we would cover it in twenty-four hours. The highest
price that a man could ordinarily claim for his time was fifty cents
per day, and the rental of a horse was the same. Allowing the men
double pay for night-travel each of them would earn $1.50, and the same
returning, making in all $6 for the men; and allowing the same for six
horses, their hire would amount to $18, or $24 in all. We endeavored to
reason him down, but he was cunning enough to appreciate the urgency of
our needs, and wouldn't reduce the price a penny.
It is worthy of note that in this part of the country there is no
fixed value to anything when dealing with foreigners. If you ask a
native the price of an article, or a personal service, he will very
adroitly measure the pressure of your need and will always set the
figure at the absolute maximum of what he thinks you would pay, with
no regard whatever for the value of the article or service to be given
in exchange. If you need a horse quickly and are obliged to have it at
any cost, the price is likely to be four times its value. In bartering
with the natives it is wise to assume an air of utter indifference as
to whether you trade or not. I once gave out notice that I wanted a
good saddle-horse, and next morning when I got up there were seventeen
standing at my front door, all for sale, but at prices ranging from two
to five times their value. I dismissed them all, saying that I didn't
need a horse at the time, and a few days later bought the best one of
the lot for exactly one quarter of the original asking-price. We were
told in Tampico of a recent case where an American traveler employed a
man to take his trunk from the hotel to the depot, a distance of less
than half a mile, without agreeing upon a price, and the man demanded
$10 for the service, which the traveler refused to pay, as the regular
and well-established price was but twenty-five cents. The trunk was
held and the American missed his train. The case was taken to court
and the native won,--the judge holding that the immediate necessity of
getting the trunk to the station in time to catch the train justified
the charge, especially in that it was for a personal service. The
native had been cunning enough to carry the trunk on his back instead
of hauling it with his horse and wagon, which stood at the front door
of the hotel. The traveler was detained four days in trying the suit,
and his lawyer charged him $50 for services. In these parts it is
therefore always well to make explicit agreements on prices in advance,
especially for personal service to be performed.
In purchasing goods in large quantities one is always expected to pay
proportionately more, because they reason that the greater your needs
the more urgent they are. I discovered the truth of this statement when
purchasing some oranges at the market-place in Tampico. The price was
three cents for four oranges. I picked up twelve and gave the man nine
cents, but he refused it and asked me for two reals, or twenty-five
cents. I endeavored to reason with him, by counting the oranges and
the money back and forth, that at the rate of four for three cents, a
dozen would come to _medio y quartilla_ (nine cents), and nearly wore
the skin off the oranges in the process of demonstration; but it was
of no use. Finally I took four, and handing him three cents took four
more, paying three cents each time until I had completed the dozen.
I put them in my valise and left him still counting the money and
remonstrating.
We agreed to the extortionate demand of $100 for the hire of the
horses and men, only on condition that we were to be furnished with
ample provisions for the trip. Leaving our baggage with the boat to
be delivered at Tuxpam we started on our horseback journey just after
sunset, expecting to reach Tuxpam by sunset next day. The trail led
through brush and weeds for several miles, and in less than ten minutes
we were covered with wood-ticks from head to foot. Shortly after
nightfall we entered a dense forest where the branches closed overhead
with such compactness that we couldn't distinguish the movement of our
hands immediately before our eyes. The interpreter called to the guide
in front and asked if there were any wild animals in these woods; in
response we received the cheering intelligence that there were many
large panthers and tigers, and that further on along the coast there
were lions. After that we momentarily expected to be pounced upon by
a hungry tiger or panther from some overhanging bough. The path was
crooked, poorly defined, and very rugged. Our faces were frequently
raked by the branches of trees and brush, and the blackness seemed
to intensify as we progressed. We loosened the reins and allowed the
horses to take their course in single file. The guide in front kept
up a weird sort of yodling cry which must have penetrated the forest
more than a mile. It was a cry of extreme lonesomeness, and is said
by the natives to ward off evil spirits and wild animals. I can well
understand the foundation for such a belief, particularly in regard to
the animals. The pestiferous wood-ticks were annoying us persistently,
and it looked as though we had changed for the worse in leaving the
boat. At length we came out into the open along the Gulf, and traveled
several miles down the coast by the water's edge. It was in the wooded
district at our right along here that the lions were so abundant, but
I have my doubts if there was a lion, or tiger, or panther anywhere
within a mile of us at any time. In my weakened physical condition
the exertion was proving too strenuous, and at three o'clock in the
morning we all stopped, tied the horses at the edge of the thicket
and lay down for a nap beside a large log that had been washed ashore
on the sandy beach. The natives assured us that the lions were less
likely to eat us if we remained out in the open. A stiff breeze blowing
from off the water whirled the dry sand in eddies all along the beach.
We nestled behind the log to escape the wind and sand, and in a few
minutes were all fast asleep. When we awoke a couple of hours later
we were almost literally buried in sand. The wag of the party said it
would be an inexpensive burial, and that he didn't intend ever to move
an inch from the position in which he lay.
Unaccustomed as we were to horseback riding, it required the most
Spartanlike courage to mount our horses again. After going a few miles
it came time for breakfast and our interpreter asked one of the guides
to prepare the meal. He responded by reaching down into a small bag
hanging at his saddle-horn and pulling out four _tortillas_, one for
each of us. This was the only article of food they offered us.
It may be explained that the _tortilla_ (pronounced torteeya) is the
most common article of food in Mexico. It is common in two different
senses,--in that it is the cheapest and least palatable food known,
and also that it is more generally used than any other food there.
In appearance the _tortilla_ resembles our pancake, except that it
is thinner, tougher, and usually larger around. The size varies from
four to seven inches in width, and the thickness from an eighth to
a quarter of an inch. It is made of corn, moistened in limewater in
order to remove the hulls, then laid on the flat surface of a _metate_
(a stone-slab prepared for the purpose), and ground to a thick doughy
substance by means of a round stone-bar held horizontally with one hand
at each end and rubbed up and down the netherstone, washboard fashion.
The women usually do this work, and grind only as much at a time as may
be required for the meal. The dough--which contains no seasoning of any
kind--not even salt--is pressed and patted into thin cakes between the
palms of the hand, and laid on a griddle or piece of sheetiron (stoves
being seldom seen) over a fire to bake. They are frequently served
with black beans--another very common article of food in Mexico--and
by tearing them into small pieces they are made to serve the purpose
of knives, forks and spoons in conveying food to the mouth,--the piece
of _tortilla_ always being deposited in the mouth with the food which
it conveys. Among the poorer classes the _tortilla_ is frequently the
only food taken for days and perhaps weeks at a time. It is never
baked crisp, but is cooked just enough to change the color slightly.
When served hot, with butter--an _extremely_ rare article in the rural
districts--it is rather agreeable to the taste, but when cold it
becomes very tough and in taste it resembles the sole of an old rubber
shoe.
Such was the food that was offered us in fulfillment of the promise to
supply us with an abundance of good provisions for the journey. I had
eaten scarcely anything for three days, and with the improvement in
my physical condition my appetite was becoming unmanageable. We found
that it would probably be impossible to obtain food until we reached
Tamiahua, a small town about thirty miles down the coast. It would be
tiresome and useless to dwell further upon the monotony of that day's
travel along the sands of the barren coast, with nothing to eat since
the afternoon before. Suffice it to say that we all were still alive
when we arrived at Tamiahua at about three o'clock in the afternoon.
Meanwhile we had been planning how best to get even with the Mexicans
for having bled us and then starved us. Fortunately, we had paid only
half the sum in advance, and the remaining half would at least procure
us a good meal. We went to a sort of inn kept by an accommodating
native who promised to get up a good dinner for us. We told him to get
everything he could think of that we would be likely to enjoy, to spare
no expense in providing it, and to spread the table for six.
Tamiahua is situated on the coast, cut off from the mainland by a
small body of water through which the small freight-boats pass in
plying between Tampico and Tuxpam. There happened to be a boat at the
wharf, just arrived from Tampico with a load of groceries destined for
Tuxpam. The innkeeper suggested that there might be some American goods
aboard, and we all went down to interview the boatman. He informed us
that the cargo was consigned to a grocer in Tuxpam and that he couldn't
sell anything, but when our interpreter slipped a couple of silver
_pesos_ (dollars) into his palm he told us to pick out anything we
wanted. We took a five-pound can of American butter, at $1 a pound, an
imported ham at fifty cents a pound, a ten-pound tin box of American
crackers at fifty cents a pound, four boxes of French sardines, two
cans of evaporated cream, and a selection of canned goods, the bill
amounting in all to $22.25. This was all taken to the inn and opened
up. The innkeeper was instructed to keep what we couldn't eat. The
butter was so strong that he kept the most of that, with more than half
of the crackers. At five o'clock we were served with a dinner of fried
chicken, fried ham and eggs, canned baked beans, bread and butter,
coffee, and native fruit. The two guides were invited to sit down with
us to what was doubtless the most sumptuous feast ever set before
them. After dinner we called for a dozen of the best cigars that the
town afforded, and two were handed to each one, including the guides.
After lighting our cigars we called for the bill of the entire amount,
which, including the sum of $22.25 for the boatman, came to $38.50.
We called the innkeeper into the room, counted out $50 on the table,
and paid him $38.50 for the dinner and the boatman's bill; then gave
him $5 extra for himself, while the remaining $6.50 was handed to the
head guide. He almost collapsed with astonishment, and wondered what he
had done to deserve such a generous honorarium; but his amazement was
increased ten-fold when the interpreter informed him that this was the
balance due him. A heated argument ensued between them, and the guide
drawing his machete attempted to make a pass at the interpreter, with
the remark that he would kill every _gringo_ (a vulgar term applied
to English-speaking people by the Mexicans in retaliation for the
term _greaser_) in the place. The innkeeper pounced upon him with the
quickness of a cat and pinioned his arms behind him. His companion
seeing that he was subdued made no move. The innkeeper called for a
rope and in less than five minutes the belligerent Mexican was bound
hand and foot and was being carried to the lockup. The interpreter
explained the whole matter to the innkeeper, who sided with us, of
course. The effect of the five-dollar tip was magical. He went to the
judge and pleaded our case so eloquently that that dignitary called
upon us in the evening and apologized on behalf of his countrymen for
the indignity, assuring us incidentally that the offender would be
dealt with according to the law. We presented him with an American
five-dollar gold piece as a souvenir. He insisted that we remain over
night as his guests, and in the morning piloted us through the village.
The first place visited was the cathedral, a large structure standing
in the center of the principal street. Its seating capacity was perhaps
five times greater than that of any other building in the village. It
contained a number of pieces of beautiful old statuary, and on the
walls were many magnificent old paintings, of enormous dimensions, with
splendid frames. They are said to have been secretly brought to this
obscure out-of-the-way place from the City of Mexico during the French
invasion, but for what reason they were never removed seems a mystery.
A _fiesta_ was in progress in honor of the birthday of some saint,
and it was impossible to get anyone to take us to Tuxpam, only a few
miles distant. We desired to continue via the _laguna_, and engaged
two men to take us in a sort of gondola, with the understanding that
we should leave just after sunset. We gave the men a dollar apiece in
advance, as they wished to purchase a few articles of food, etc., for
the journey, and they were to meet us at the inn at sunset. Neither of
them appeared at the appointed time, and in company with the innkeeper
we went in search of them. In the course of half an hour we found
one of the men behind a hut, drunk, and asleep. He had drank a whole
quart of _aguardiente_ and the empty bottle lay at his side. We left
him and went to the boat, where we found the other man stretched out
full length in the bottom with a half-filled bottle beside him. We
concluded to start out and to put the man at the paddle as soon as
he became sufficiently sober. The innkeeper directed us as best he
could and we pushed off from the shore about an hour after nightfall,
expecting to reach Tuxpam by eight o'clock next morning. We were told
to paddle out across the lake about a mile to the opposite shore, where
there was a channel leading into a large lake beyond. The water was
very shallow most of the way, and filled with marshgrass and other
vegetation, which swarmed with a great variety of waterfowl. Disturbed
by our approach they kept up a constant quacking, squawking and
screeching on all sides, which, reverberating on the still night-air,
made the scene dismal enough. There was a _baile_ in progress near
the shore in the village and as we paddled along far out in the lake
we could see the glimmer of the lights reflected along the surface
of the water and could hear the dance-music distinctly. When we had
gotten well out into the lake the drunken man in the bottom of the
boat waked up and inquired where he was and where we were taking him.
Seeing the lights in the distance and hearing the music he suddenly
remembered that he had promised to take his girl to the dance, and
demanded that he be taken back to shore. Upon being refused he jumped
out into the water and declared that he would wade back. We had great
difficulty in getting him back into the boat and came near capsizing
in the operation. The ducking he got sobered him up considerably and
at length we got him at the helm with the paddle and told him to head
for the mouth of the channel. He neared the shore to the right of the
channel and following along near the water's edge was within a quarter
of a mile of the village before we realized what his trick was. The
interpreter took the paddle away from him and told him of the dire
consequences that would follow if he didn't settle down and behave
himself. After turning the boat around and following along the shore
for half a mile he promised to take us to Tuxpam if we would agree
to get him another bottle of _aguardiente_ there and also a present
with which to make peace with his girl. Upon being assured that we
would do this he seemed quite contented and set to work in earnest.
As we entered the narrow channel a large dog ran out from a nearby
hut, and approaching the boat threatened to devour us all. Provoked
at this interference the Mexican made a swish at him in the dark
with the paddle, but missing the dog he struck the ground with such
violence that the handle of the paddle broke off near the blade, and
both Mexican and paddle tumbled headlong into the water with a splash.
This provoked the dog to still greater savagery, and jumping from the
bank into the boat he attacked the interpreter with the ferocity of a
tiger. He was immediately shot and dumped into the water. Meanwhile our
gondolier had clambered up on the bank and the two pieces of the paddle
had floated off in the darkness. What to do was a serious question.
The native at the hut had probably been aroused by the shot and was
likely to come down on us with more ferocity than the dog. We could
not therefore appeal to him for another paddle. It was so dark that
we could scarcely see one another in the boat, and it was exceedingly
fortunate that none of the party was shot instead of the dog. While we
were debating the various phases of our predicament the Mexican--who
had now become quite sober after his second sousing--unsheathed his
machete and cut a pole, with the aid of which he soon had us a safe
distance down the channel. A few miles further on we got out at a hut
by the side of the channel and bought a paddle, for which we paid three
times its value.
The channels from here on were generally overhung on both sides with
brush and the boughs of trees, and the darkness was so intense that
it was impossible to distinguish any object at a distance of three
feet. The man at the paddle set up the same doleful yodling cry that
we had heard in the woods, and continued it at intervals all through
the night. He advised us to be careful not to allow our hands to hang
over the edge of the boat, as the channel abounded with alligators.
As a matter of fact, I doubt if there was an alligator within miles
of us. The native was doubtless sincere in his statement, because he
had perhaps heard others say that there were alligators there. The
story of the lions, tigers and panthers in the woods along the coast
was also undoubtedly a myth which like many other sayings had become a
popular belief from frequent repetition. The same is true of dozens of
tales one hears in Mexico, and about Mexico when at home. For example,
the fabulous stories about the vast fortunes to be made in planting
vanilla, rubber trees and coffee; but I shall treat of these matters in
their proper place further on.
We finally arrived at Tuxpam in the morning at nine o'clock. As I
reflected upon the experiences of the past two weeks I shuddered at the
very thought of returning. It is doubtful if all the riches in this
tropical land could have tempted me again to undergo the tortures and
anxiety of body and mind that fell to my portion on that journey. It
was an epoch long to be remembered.[6]
[6] After a lapse of twelve years I can recall the incidents and
sensations of the journey from Tampico to Tuxpam as connectedly and
vividly as though it had been but a week ago.