PLAZA OF QUADALAJARA.PLAZA OF QUADALAJARA.
The city ofGuadalajara, 150 leagues from Mexico, the capital of Jalisco, is situated upon an extensive plain. Its handsome streets are airy, and many of the houses well built. There are fourteen squares, twelve fountains, and a number of convents and churches, the principal of which is the magnificent Cathedral, whose towers were injured by an earthquake in 1818. An Alameda is beautifully laid out with irregular alleys, planted with trees, interspersed with flowers, while, in the centre, a fountain throws up a constant stream of excellent water.
Within the town, thePortalesare the principal rendezvous, and contain numerous shops and stalls filled with European and East India fabrics, fruit of all kinds, earthenware from Tonala, shoes, mangas, saddlery, birds, sweetmeats of Calabazato, and a thousand other varieties to attract the passers by. Each of the stalls pays a small ground rent to the convents of Guadalajara, and thus afford an ample revenue to the brotherhoods.
The population of the town may be estimated at 50,000. Its air is mild and wholesome, and during the season when the neighboring vegetation is refreshed by rains, the scenery of Guadalajara is considered as picturesque as that of the city of Mexico.
In the district of Lagos lies the town ofSan Juan de los Lagos, in a deep ravine, almost upon a level with the river of the same name, and with its mud houses and wild scenery, offers no evidence of the gay and festive appearance it presents during the famous annual fair which is held in it, commencing the 5th of December, and lasting eight days. At that period, San Juan is the resort of merchants, with their wares from all parts of the Republic, and all the planters or wealthy rancheros within an hundred leagues, resort thither with their families.
There is a beautiful church in this town, dedicated to Our Lady of the Lake, and medals struck in honor of her are sold at the door of the temple.
In the district ofla Barcaare the towns of La Barca, Tlachichilco, Chapala, Axixis, Ojotepec, Aranda and Atotomilco.
In the district ofEtzatlan, we find the capital village of Etzatlan, Cocula, San Martin, Améca, Tequila and Agualco.
In the district ofSayula, are Sayula, Zapotlan el grande, Zapotitli, Tuspan and Zacualco.
In the district ofAutlan, we find Autlan de la Grana, a town with 4,000 inhabitants, La Villa de la Purificacion, with 3,000, Mascota, San Sebastian and Tecolotlan, which are large villages.
In the district ofTepiclies the town of Tepic, a fine well built town in the midst of a rich mountain plain, 2,963 feet above the level of the sea, and next to the capital, the finest and most populous town in the State. Besides this, there are Pochotitlan, Compostella, Ahuacatlan, S. Maria del Oro, Santiago, Centispac, Acaponeta, and Guajicoria. Three leagues north-east of the latter, a warm spring is found in the neighborhood of theCerro de Huicalapa.
The capital of the district ofColotlan, is San Antonio de Colotlan, containing about 4,000 inhabitants. In this district we also find Santa Maria, a large and populous village lying 5,659 feet above the sea, Huejucar, Cartagena, Tlaltenango and Bolaños, a mining town.
The best sea-port of Jalisco is that of San Blas, whose town lies in 21° 32´ 24´´ north latitude and 107° 35´ 48," west longitude from Paris, upon a rock of basaltic lava, 90 feet high, isolated entirely on three sides, and reached by a bad road on the fourth. The haven is land-locked, and the anchoring ground good and deep; butduring the rainy season the levels around the rock which is the foundation of the town, become filled with stagnant pools until the whole adjacent country is covered with water. The burning sun of the coast acts rapidly upon these shallow marshes and fills them with insects and miasma. San Blas soon becomes uninhabitable, and its population betake themselves either to Tepic, Guadalajara, or the first elevations of the mountains in the interior.
The only mining region of any note in Jalisco is that of Bolaños. The mines of Hostotipaquillo, near Tepic, are now abandoned; those of Guichichila, Santa Maria del Oro, Santa Martin and Ameca, in the district of Etzatlan, in the neighborhood of Cocula, are partially wrought. Among the unexplored sites of base and spurious metals in this State, we may mention those found in the vicinity of Compostella, those near the ranchos ofRosa MoradaandBuena Vista, towards the coast, between the villages of Santiago and Acaponeta, and those near Guajicoria, north of the last named village.
The Islands of La Isabela, San Juanico and Marias, lie on the Pacific coast of Jalisco.
The aborigines of Jalisco, formerly warlike and devoted to a bloody religion, belong to the tribes of Cazçanes, Guachichiles and Guamanes. They are most generally tillers of the ground, adhering to the doctrines of the Catholic church, and they have particular fondness for settling a while in lonely and wild regions, and for changing their place of residence frequently. The manners and customs of the Guachichiles are in many respects peculiar. They still use the bow and arrow as weapons. Their quivers are made of deer and shark skins, and the points of their reed arrows are formed of a hard wood and rarely of copper. The garments of the men consist of a kind of short tunic, roughly made by themselves of blue or brown cotton material, with a girdle hanging down in front and behind, to which is generally added a pair of trousers of tanned goat or deer skin. Married persons, men as well as women, wear straw hats with broad rims and high crowns, ornamented with a narrow ribbon of bright colored wool and tassels. Their black bushy hair is worn very long, bound with bright colored ribbons and tassels, or plaited in queues. No unmarried person, male or female, dare wear a hat. The women are clothed with an under garment of rough wool or cotton and a mantle of the same material, which has an aperture on top through which they pass their heads. Whensober they are peaceable and easily controlled, but when intoxicated violent and quarrelsome. At marriage the husband has the right of taking his wife on trial and of sending her back to her parents after some time if she should not please him, and this, even if she should be pregnant by him. This, however, does not prevent such a female marrying afterwards. If she gives satisfaction, the husband has the ceremony performed by a priest or monk, who for this purpose makes a yearly circuit, and often performs the marriage and a baptism at the same time!
Church and school matters, particularly the latter, are provided for in the State of Jalisco in an inferior manner to other parts of the Mexican Republic. A few years ago, there were in the entire State only 113 elementary schools attended by not more than 6,167 children. The instruction was limited almost exclusively to reading, for of this entire number, according to official accounts, there were not more than 2,092 learning to write. For instruction in the higher branches there were in the entire State only two indifferent institutions located in the capital—one the Seminario Conciliar for instruction of the clergy, with thirteen chairs and a species of academy, founded since the revolution, called El Instituto, with chairs for anatomy, modern languages, mineralogy, mathematics, &c. The seminary was attended by 120 boarders and 329 day scholars. The institution had one director, ten professors, two assistant teachers, a secretary, etc.; the available funds of the same consisted, independent of a fee paid by the wealthier scholars, of scarcely any thing but an addition of two thousand and seventy dollars granted by the State treasury. Jalisco felt deeply this sad condition of public instruction, and numerous propositions for its amelioration and thorough reformation were made, but money was wanting and fit men for the professorships, and discretion and tact on the part of the authorities, and it is scarcely to be expected that since that time public instruction has been essentially bettered. The "Instituto" since then has been made a university. The State forms a separate bishopric. It was erected in the year 1548, and embraced at that time in like manner the present States of Durango and New Leon. The bishop had his seat first at Compostela; in 1569 it was transferred to Guadalajara. In 1631 Durango was separated from Jalisco, and in 1777 both were made distinct bishoprics. The episcopal chapter of Jalisco consisted of three dignitaries, four canons and four prebendaries.
This territory is bounded north by Jalisco, south by Mechoacan, east by both of these States, and west by the Pacific. It extends between the degrees of 18° 18´ and 19° 10´ of north latitude, and 102° 51´ and 104° 2´ west longitude from Greenwich. Its surface is generally level, broken by hills, from among which rises the mountain of Colima, the westernmost of Mexican volcanoes. It lies in the north-eastern corner of the Territory, and reaches a height of 9,200 feet above the level of the sea.
The climate of Colima is warm—on the coast it is hot—but the territory is generally considered healthy and fruitful in all portions. Its population is estimated at about 45,000. Cotton, sugar, tobacco and cacao are produced by its agriculturists, while on the coast large quantities of salt are made from the waters of the sea. Rich iron deposits have been recently found, and individuals have commenced developing this important source of national wealth.
The chief town of the Territory isColima, about two leagues south of the volcano, containing between fifteen and twenty thousand inhabitants. The other towns and villages are Almoloyan, with 4,000 people, Xala, Ascatlan and Texupa. The haven of Manzanillo, or port of Colima, as it is sometimes called, is seventeen leagues west of the capital; and with but small expense to government might be made one of the best anchorages in the Republic.
THROWING THE LAZO.THROWING THE LAZO.
SINALOA—BOUNDARIES—CLIMATE—DIVISIONS—INDIANS—PRODUCTS—TOWNS—MINES.—SONORA—BOUNDARIES—DIVISIONS—RIVERS—CLIMATE—INDIANS—TRADE—TOWNS—MINES.—TERRITORY OF LOWER CALIFORNIA—BOUNDARIES—CHARACTER—POPULATION—PRODUCTS—PEARLS—SALT—MINES—SEALS—WHALES—CLIMATE—PORTS—TOWNS—POPULATION.—STATE OF GUERRERO.
SINALOA—BOUNDARIES—CLIMATE—DIVISIONS—INDIANS—PRODUCTS—TOWNS—MINES.—SONORA—BOUNDARIES—DIVISIONS—RIVERS—CLIMATE—INDIANS—TRADE—TOWNS—MINES.—TERRITORY OF LOWER CALIFORNIA—BOUNDARIES—CHARACTER—POPULATION—PRODUCTS—PEARLS—SALT—MINES—SEALS—WHALES—CLIMATE—PORTS—TOWNS—POPULATION.—STATE OF GUERRERO.
Sinaloa is bounded on the south by Jalisco, on the east by Durango, on the south-west by Chihuahua, on the north by Sonora and on the west by the Pacific coast for a distance of 200 leagues along the Gulf of California. It lies between 22° 35´ and 27° 45´ of north latitude and 107° and 113° west longitude from Paris. The river Cañas divides it from Jalisco, and the Mayo from Sonora. Its length from south-east to north-west is about 180 leagues, and its breadth in the centre 50 to 56 leagues. This State is partly mountainous and partly level coast land. On the east it lies on the limits of the Cordilleras of Mexico. The levels begin in the west near the boundaries of Jalisco, and stretch out their broad sand-wastes to the town of Alamos and the river Mayo, until they are lost in the State of Sonora. This region is scorched with a blazing sun, and is of course but thinly peopled and little cultivated. Near the city of Alamos a more genial country begins. The central and eastern parts of Sinaloa are rich in table lands and values, while the slopes of the mountains are thickly wooded. In the interior the rains are not heavy nor the warmth intense. A mild and genial air prevails during the whole year; but on the coast the heat is excessive, and all who are able escape from it into the interior.
The State of Sinaloa is divided into three departments:—
1st. The departmentdel Fuerte, with three cantons, viz: Fuerte, Alamos and Sinaloa.
2d. The department ofCuliacan, with two cantons, viz: Culiacan and Cosalá.
3d. The department ofSan Sebastian, with three cantons, viz: Sebastian, Rosario and Piastla.
The principal streams and rivers of this State are those of las Cañas, or Rio de Bayóna, the boundary line in the direction of Jalisco; theRosario, and the coast streams of Mazatlan, Piastla, Elota and Tavala. There are besides these the Culiacan or Sacuda, Imaya, Mocorito, Ocroni, del Fuerte and Mayo.
The Indians belong to various tribes. The Coras, Nayarites, and Hueicolhues are found in the south; north of these dwell the Sinaloas, Cochitas and Tubares; and still further north, on the streams of the Ocroni, Ahomé, del Fuerte and Mayo, we find some tribes of Guasáres, Ahomes and Ocronis. The Mayos inhabit chiefly the regions west and north-west of the town of Alamos.
The white inhabitants of this State are chiefly descendants of emigrants from Biscay and Catalonia in Spain.
Sinaloa is regarded as a productive State, and yields good crops of grain in the portions which are easily irrigated. Wheat, Indian corn and barley, together with some cotton, sugar and tobacco, are cultivated successfully; whilst all sorts of fruits and vegetables are found in abundance.
The principal towns are Mazatlan, a port with anchorage on the west coast, which is much visited by European and American vessels, and has been the seat of a very large smuggling trade in which the wares of India and of northern nations were exchanged for the precious metals of Mexico, her grain and skins.
Asilos del Rosario and the Villa de San Sebastian lie in the department of San Sebastian. San Ignacio de Piastla is the capital of a canton. Culiacan lies in the department of Culiacan. Sinaloa or Villa de San Felipe y Santiago de Sinaloa, the Villa del Fuerte or Montesclaros, and Alamos, are the other towns of note in this State.
Sinaloa is rich in metallic deposits of base and precious metals, the chief of which are found at Asilos de Rosario, Cosala, Copala, Alamos, and San José de los Mulatos.
Sonora bounds eastwardly on Chihuahua and New Mexico; southwardly on Sinaloa; and westwardly on the Gulf of California for 238 leagues between the mouths of the Mayo and the Colorado. Its northern boundary is now the line which divides the Republic of Mexico from the Californian possessions of the United States.
The western and southern portions of Sonora are generally flat. In the south, between the rivers Mayo and Yaqui and the Presidio of Buena Vista, there is a fruitful region, whose productiveness isenhanced by a number of small lakes formed during the rainy season on the levels, which are used by the careful agriculturists for the irrigation of their farms. On the eastern boundary of the State, the ridges of the Cordillera begin to rise, until they tower into the massive mountains which form the Sierra Madre, among the spurs of which many valuable metallic deposits have been discovered. The fine and productive vallies of Bavispe, Oposura, Sonora and Dolores are found in the neighborhood of this mountain country.
Sonora is divided into two Departments:
1st. The Department of Arispe, with three cantons, viz: Arispe, Oposura and Altar.
2nd. The Department of Horcasitas, with three cantons, viz: Horcasitas, Ostimuri, and Petic.
The chief rivers are the Mayo, the boundary in the direction of Sinaloa; the Yaqui or Hiaqui; the Rio Grande de Bavispe; Oposura; Sonora; Dolores; Guayamas; Rio de la Ascencion; San Ignacio; Gila; San Francisco or Rio Azul; San Pedro; Santa Maria and the Rio Colorado.
The climate of Sonora is warm throughout the year; but the early spring is subject to remarkable and rapid changes of temperature, and to sudden variations of wind between the north and east. From April to the end of September the thermometer ranges between 75° and 84° Fahrenheit.
A large portion of Sonora is occupied by Indian tribes, some of which are partially agricultural where they have been brought into contact with the whites; but the greater portion may be regarded as belonging to the wild nomadic bands which have hitherto harassed the northern settlements of Mexico. In the eastern part of the State, on the banks of the Sonora and Oposura, and in the vicinity of the town of Arispe and the mineral region of Nocasari, we find large numbers of the Opátas. North of the Ascencion, and stretching far inland from the coast, are the Pimos Altos, the most northerly bands that have submitted to the influences of Christianity or of partial civilization. The nomadic tribes in the north and north-east of the State are Papayos or Papábi-Otawas, the Yumas, the Cucapas or Cupachas, the Cajuenches, the Coanópas, the Apaches Tontos, the Cocomaricopas, the Pimo Galenos, the Apaché Gilenos, Apaché Mimbreños, and Apaché Chiricaguis. Of all these wild and savage tribes, the Apachés are the most uncontrollable.
The trade of Sonora is chiefly carried on at Guyamas, in latitude 27° 40´ N. and 114° W. longitude from Paris,—one of the best harbors in West Mexico, in a healthy region, containing about 3,000 inhabitants;—and at Petic, forty leagues north north-east from Guyamas, in about 29° 20´ of north latitude. The latter town, containing about 8,000 inhabitants, is the depôt for goods imported through the port of Guyamas which are designed for the northern districts of Mexico. Besides these two important places, there are the towns of San Miguel Horcasitas, with 2,500 inhabitants; Arispe, with 3,000; San José de Guyamas 350 to 400; Bayoreca; Onabas; Presidio de Buena Vista; El Aguáge; Ures; Babiacora; Banamitza; Batuc; Matape; Oposura; Presidio de Bavispe; Presidio de Fronteras; San Ildefonso Cieneguilla; Presidio de Santa Gertrudis del Altar; Oquitoa; Presidio de la Santa Cruz; Presidio de Tuscon; and Presidio de Tubac.
The mineral characteristics are similar to those of Sinaloa.
The Territory of Lower California is comprehended in that long peninsular strip of land which extends from the present southern boundary of the United States to Cape St. Lucas, and which is washed on the east by the Gulf of California from the point where the Rio Colorado debouches into it, and on the west by the waves of the Pacific ocean. It lies between 32° 31´ 59´´ 58´´´, and Cape St. Lucas, in about 22° 45´ of north latitude.
The country, generally, is represented to be one of the most unattractive in the warm or temperate regions. The peninsula, about 700 miles long, varies in breadth from thirty to one hundred miles, its mean breadth being about fifty. The surface of this region is formed of an irregular chain of rocks, hills and mountains, which run throughout the central portion of its whole length, and some of which attain a height of nearly five thousand feet. Amid these dreary ridges there are occasionally found a few sheltered spots which, though deluged by the torrents, have not been swept clear of productive earth, and in these there is a fertile soil of small extent, yielding a thin but nutritious grass. There are few streams or springs; trees of magnitude are scarce; and the heavy showers falling on the central rocky peaks and eminences are drained on the east and west into the Pacific and Gulf of California by the sloping sides of the peninsula, so as to bear with them into the sea a large portion of cultivable soil. In the plains and in most of the dry beds of rivers, water can be obtained by digging wells only a few feet deep, and wherever irrigation has been adoptedby means of these wells, the produce of the fields has abundantly rewarded the agriculturist. Much of the soil is of volcanic origin, being washed from the mountains, as we have already stated, and its yield, by aid of irrigation, is alleged to be quite marvellous. It is probable therefore, notwithstanding the unfavorable aspect of the country as seen by a casual visiter, that its evil repute is chiefly owing to the indolent and roving character of the inhabitants, and that in the hands of an industrious and agricultural people, it would be capable of supporting a population much more numerous than the present. At an earlier period of the Territory's history, under the dominion of the missions, when very small portions of the soil were cultivated, and even those but rudely by the Indians, the four districts of San José, Santiago, San Antonio and Todos Santos, contained 35,000 souls, whereas the present population of the whole peninsula is probably not more than nine or ten thousand.
During the epoch when the missions of California still flourished the general barrenness of this territory did not subdue the energy of the priestly fathers, who in the sheltered vallies near the different mission sites, which were carefully selected, produced Indian corn, grapes, dates, figs, quinces, peaches, pears and olives. Much of these fruits was preserved and exported to the opposite coast of Mexico. But these articles, together with pearls, tortoise-shell, bullocks' hides, dried beef, soap and cheese constituted the whole product and commerce of the peninsula. The waters of the gulf were in former days more valuable to the Californians than the shores. During the sixteenth century the pearl fishery produced a valuable revenue, and towards its close, six hundred and ninety-seven pounds of the precious article were imported into Seville from America; but at the last authentic dates of twenty years past, the fishery in lower California had dwindled into utter insignificance. Four vessels and two boats were alone engaged in it; and the two hundred divers who still searched the bottom of the coasts in their perilous trade, obtained only eighty-eight ounces of pearls valued at little more than thirteen thousand dollars.
The pearl fishery seems, however, to have revived somewhat, shortly anterior to the war with the United States, and a report from one of our most intelligent officers in the Pacific at that period, states that the annual exportation of pearls amounted then to between forty and fifty thousand dollars.
Valuable mines of gold, silver, copper and lead are known to exist in the peninsula, and although only a few are rudely worked, the labor expended on them is amply rewarded. The salt mines, on theisland of Carmen, in the Gulf of California, near Loreto, are capable of supplying the whole coast of Mexico and California. The surface of the lake producing this valuable mineral is covered with a solid crust several feet in thickness, which is cut in blocks, like ice, and conveyed to the beach by convicts under the order of the Governor of Lower California, who has hitherto enjoyed a monopoly of the trade with Mazatlan and San Blas.
The country about La Paz, situated on the east coast, south of the bay of La Paz, and near the Pichilingue cove, is represented to be valuable for grazing. Some of the silver mines near San Antonio, about forty miles south, are productively wrought. Gold dust and virgin gold are brought to La Paz, and about one hundred thousand dollars ofplatapina, are exported from it yearly. The whole coast abounds with fish, clams and oysters. Among the islands of the gulf immense number of seal are constantly found, and the whaling grounds on the Pacific coast are of great value. Magdalena bay alone has, at one time, contained as many as twenty-eight sail, all engaged in this fishery.
The coasts of Lower California are flat, sandy, irregular, and frequently indented by coves, inlets and bays, while many islands lie near and border them in the gulf. The climate is regarded as healthful; the winter is short, and frost and ice are unknown. A pure air and a deep blue sky surround and span the region; but the heat of summer is intense, parching the thin soil, and rendering life almost insupportable in the more exposed regions, or in the narrow and confined glens.
The principal ports visited by merchantmen or whalers on the west or Pacific coast, are: 1st. That of San Quentin, in latitude 30° 23´, which is said to afford a secure anchorage for vessels of every description, and to be sufficient for the accommodation of a numerous fleet; and 2dly, the bay of Magdalena, which has acquired notoriety from being resorted to every winter by numbers of whalers. It is protected by the two large islands of San Lazaro and Margareta, and possesses many of the characteristics of an inland sea, being navigable for the distance of more than a hundred miles. It has several commodious anchorages. The bay of San José, near Cape San Lucas, is ordinarily frequented by coasters, and is sometimes visited by whalers and men-of-war, being the outlet of a valley, unusually fertile for Lower California, which extends upwards of forty miles inland, and affords probably the best watering and provisioning place on the peninsula, though it is a mere roadstead yielding no protection in the season of south-easters.
On the west coast of the Peninsula, north of Cape San Lucas, and between that point and the 24th degree of N. latitude are the bays of San Barnabé and De los Muertos. Between the 24th and 25th degrees is the bay of La Paz, an extensive indenture, protected towards the gulf by numerous isles and islets and affording excellent anchorages for vessels of any draft or any number. In this vicinity are the principal pearl fisheries as well as the most reputed mining districts. It is the outlet of the cultivated valley of Todos Santos and of the produce of the whole region lying between Santiago and Loreto. The cove orestero, opposite the town of La Paz, furnishes spacious and secure anchorage, which may be reached by vessels drawing not more than eighteen or twenty feet; while the cove of Pichilingue, at the south-eastern extremity of the bay, about six miles from the town, affords anchorage for vessels of any size; but the inner bay can be reached only by merchantmen. The bar, however, between the two is only a few yards in extent; and if the importance of the place should ever justify it, the channel might be deepened without much expensive labor. There is an anchorage at Loreto at about 26° north, and there are several places of resort and anchorage in the bay of Mulejé, between 26° and 27°, but none are deemed secure for large or small craft at any season. Several other ports are found on the gulf further north, which are visited occasionally by coasters, but the region is as yet quite unexplored, and their commercial or military value is of course unknown. Beyond the bay of Mulejé, which is nearly opposite the Mexican port of Guyamas on the main continent, the gulf is so much narrower than further south, that it becomes in a great degree a harbor itself.
The only towns of any importance on the peninsula are those of Loreto, and La Paz the capital and seat of government. The population is of course chiefly an Indian and mixed race, for but few whites were ever tempted to prolong their residence in this lonely and unattractive region.
This State was created by virtue of the fourth article of the Acta de Reformas, passed on the 18th of May, 1847, amending the constitution of 1847. By this article it was agreed that theState of Guerreroshould be formed of the districts of Acapulco, Chilapa, Tasco and Tlapa, and the municipality of Coyucan,—the threefirst of which belonged to the State of Mexico, the fourth to Puebla, and the fifth to Mechoacan—provided the legislatures of these three States gave their consent, within three months.
It is understood that this consent was yielded, but as the organization of the new State has not been received, no elucidation of the geography of the region can be given except in the descriptions of the three original States whose districts were surrendered, and to which the reader is referred in the preceding pages.
ANCIENT HEADS MADE OF CLAY.ANCIENT HEADS MADE OF CLAY.
STATE OF QUERÉTARO—BOUNDARIES—DIVISIONS—CHARACTERISTICS—RIVERS—POPULATION AND CLIMATE—DISTRICTS, ETC.—AGRICULTURAL PRODUCTS—FORESTS—FACTORIES—CITIES—MINES.—STATE OF GUANAJUATO—BOUNDARIES—EXTENT—SOIL—LAKE YURIRAPUNDARO—CLIMATE—EFFECT OF MALADIES—PRODUCTIONS—VINE—OLIVE—DIVISIONS—POPULATION—CITY OF GUANAJUATO—TOWNS IN THE STATE—HACIENDA OF JARAL—MINES—SILVER—COPPER—LEAD—CINNABAR.—ZACATÉCAS—BOUNDARIES—EXTENT—AGRICULTURE—DIVISIONS—POPULATION—TOWNS—ZACATÉCAS—- AGUAS CALIENTES, ETC.—PRODUCT AND VALUE OF ZACATÉCAN MINES.—RUINS OF QUEMADA IN ZACATÉCAS.
STATE OF QUERÉTARO—BOUNDARIES—DIVISIONS—CHARACTERISTICS—RIVERS—POPULATION AND CLIMATE—DISTRICTS, ETC.—AGRICULTURAL PRODUCTS—FORESTS—FACTORIES—CITIES—MINES.—STATE OF GUANAJUATO—BOUNDARIES—EXTENT—SOIL—LAKE YURIRAPUNDARO—CLIMATE—EFFECT OF MALADIES—PRODUCTIONS—VINE—OLIVE—DIVISIONS—POPULATION—CITY OF GUANAJUATO—TOWNS IN THE STATE—HACIENDA OF JARAL—MINES—SILVER—COPPER—LEAD—CINNABAR.—ZACATÉCAS—BOUNDARIES—EXTENT—AGRICULTURE—DIVISIONS—POPULATION—TOWNS—ZACATÉCAS—- AGUAS CALIENTES, ETC.—PRODUCT AND VALUE OF ZACATÉCAN MINES.—RUINS OF QUEMADA IN ZACATÉCAS.
The State of Queretaro, one of the smallest members of the Republic, is situated between 19° 35´ 42´´ 7´´´ and 21° 17´ 16´´ 45´´´ of north latitude. By trigonometrical surveys made in 1837, the State was found to contain 869 square leagues, which were divided between the six districts as follows:
This State is bounded on the north by the State of San Luis Potosi, west and south-west by Guanajuato and Mechoacan, south by Mexico, and east by Mexico and Vera Cruz. It lies entirely on the central plateau of the Cordillera, and is consequently intersected by numerous mountain spurs and elevated hills, some of which are entirely bare, while others are covered with forests of various kinds of wood. The plains are frequently cut up by deepbarrancasor gullies, rivers and streamlets. The agricultural portions of the State are consequently confined chiefly to the vallies of San Juan del Rio, Querétaro, Cadereyta, Amealco, Toliman and Jalpam, in which the soil, enriched by the vegetable products and debris drained from the
QUERETARO.QUERETARO.
mountain sides, is usually found to be very productive. Querétaro is generally remarked by travellers for the picturesque character of its scenery and the beautiful site of its haciendas, cities and ranchos. Mountainous as is this region, it has no single elevation of remarkable character in the geography of the republic. In a country thus physically formed and raised above the sea, important rivers are, of course, not easily encountered, and although there are fifteen streams which are dignified by the inhabitants with this title, the only two of importance are the Tula or Rio de Montezuma, the boundary between the States of Mexico and Vera Cruz, and the Rio Paté which has cut its deep and stony bed in the porphyritic rock near San Juan del Rio. The temperature of the whole region is exceedingly cool and the climate is agreeable and healthy.
The population assigned to the State in 1845 was 180,161, classified thus:
Querétaro is divided into six districts, comprising eightpartidos.
1st. The prefecture of Querétaro, with thepartidosof the capital and of La Cañada; in these two are found the town of San Francisco Galileo, the villages of Santa Rosa and Huimilpam, and the hamlets of Santa Maria Magdalena and San Miguel Carillo. 461/3inhabitants to each square league.
2d. The district of the municipality of San Juan del Rio contains the village of Tequisquiapam, the hamlets of San Pedrito, San Sebastian, and therancheriaof La Barranca de los Cocheros. 71 inhabitants to each square league.
3d. The district of the municipality of Cadeyreta which contains the mining posts of El Doctor and Maconi, and the villages of San José Vizarron, San Gaspar, San Sebastian de Brual, and San Miguel Tetillas. 1832/3inhabitants to each square league.
4. The district of Santa Maria Amealco, containing the village of Huimalpam and the hamlets of San José de Ito, San Bartolo, San Miguel Deti, San Juan de Güedó, San Miguel Tlaxcaltepec, San Pedro Tenango, San Ildefonso, and Santiago Mexquitlan. 80 inhabitants to each square league.
5th. The district of San Pedro Tolimán, contains the villages of San Francisco Tolimanejo, Santa Maria Peñamillera, San Miguel Tolimán, San Miguel de las Palmas, a mission station, Santo Domingode Soriano, San Antonio de Bernal, and the mining post of Rio Blanco. 213 inhabitants to the square league.
6th. The district of Jalpam, contains threepartidosand in these there are two sub-prefectures, which are Landa and Aguacatlan a mining post; besides these there are the villages of Concá, Sancillo, Bucareli, Arroyoseco, Tancoyol and Xilapan; the mining posts of San José de los Amoles and San Pedro Escanela; and the missions of Tilaco and Pacula. 64 inhabitants to the square league.
The whole State is calculated to contain 124haciendasor large plantations, and 392ranchosor farms, while nearly 30,000 of its inhabitants are engaged in agricultural pursuits.
The products of the soil are similar to those already described in the other States on the central plateau. In the valleys some of the tropical productions are found, but grain and cattle form the staples of the farmer's care. Very thick forests are seldom found in any part of the State, and many regions are almost entirely denuded. It will be seen from our chapter upon the manufactures of Mexico, that Querétaro is remarkable for the zeal and success with which it has applied itself to this branch of industry. Most of the woollen fabrics of this State are made of the Lana de Chinchorro which is produced within its limits, and is commonly sold at $15 per 100 lbs. Besides this there is a species of cotton, raised in some of the districts, used in the manufacture of a favorite kind of mantas, shawls and rebozos. The trade of the State is carried on chiefly with Mexico, Vera Cruz and San Luis Potosi.
The principal city is that of Querétaro, the capital and seat of government, lying in 19° 58´ 2´´ 15´´´ N. latitude, and 1° 5´ W. longitude from the meridian of Mexico, 6,365 feet above the sea. This fine, picturesque and well built town, containing about 50,000 inhabitants, is situated on the sides and summit of converging hills, and is divided into several parishes, orcuratos, some of which are in the body of the city and others in the suburbs, being separated from the rest by a scant stream which has been dignified with the title of El Rio—the river. Querétaro stands nearly 7,000 feet above the level of the sea, and enjoys a delightful temperature. A noble aqueduct, two miles in length, with arches ninety feet high, spanning a plain of meadow land—joins a tunnel from the opposite hills, and supplies the city with an abundance of excellent water from a distance of two leagues. It is a magnificent and enduring structure, and the honor of its erection is due to the taste and judgment of the Marquis de Valero del Aguila, who caused it to be built at his own cost during his viceroyal government of Mexico. Querétarohas become interesting in our history, inasmuch as it was the city in which the treaty of peace between Mexico and the United States was finally ratified by the Mexican Congress in 1848.
The other important towns are those of San Juan del Rio, San Pedro de la Cañada, and Cadereyta.
The chief mining district, and the only one of any note in the State, is that ofEl Doctor, in the district of Cadereyta. Its principal veins are those of El Doctor and San Cristoval; but famous as they once were, they are now of but little importance. The quicksilver mine of San Onófre, in the same region, is also failing.
The mining districts of El Doctor, Rio Blanco, Maconi and Escanelella, contain 216 mines—divided as follows: five of gold; 193 of silver; 7 of copper; 1 of lead; 1 of tin; 6 of quicksilver; 2 of antimony; 1 of jaldre.
The State of Guanajuato is comprehended between 20° and 21° 49´ of north latitude, and 0° 31´ 05´´ and 2° 51´ of longitude west from the meridian of Mexico, and is situated upon the grand Mexican Cordillera. It is bounded on the north by the State of San Luis Potosi, on the south by Mechoacan, on the east by Querétaro, and on the west by Jalisco and Zacatecas. Its superficial extent is 1,545 Mexican leagues of 261/2to the degree. With the exception of the State of Querétaro, Guanajuato is the smallest of the Republic, yet it contains, comparatively, the greatest number of inhabitants, as will be seen hereafter.
Large portions of the soil of Guanajuato are fertile; especially the magnificent and productive plains of the Bajio, in the southern part of the State, which extend for more than 34 leagues from Apasco to beyond Leon;—and, in the north, where the splendid plains or Llanos of San Félipe spread far and wide.
All theSierraof Santa Rosa forms a chain of porphyritic mountains and elevations of greater or less elevation, which pass under the general name ofCerros. The highest of these, two leagues, north of the capital is known as the Cerro de los Llanitos. It rises to the height of 3,359varasabove the level of the sea, and is the loftiest in the State. Besides these, there are theCerrosdel Gigante, El Cubilete, La Bufa, La Garrida, La Beata and San Juan de Mendoza.
The river Lerma, anciently known as Tolotlan, and commonly designated in Guanajuato as theRio Grande, is the only one whichreally merits this name in the State, and crosses the southern portion of it for near 35 leagues. The river Laja and the river Turbio are of less consequence; and all the other streams, though generally known among the people of these districts by the dignified title ofrivers, scarcely merit a higher position among the fluvial characteristics of the State than brooks or mountain torrents, which only obtain real consideration when they are swollen by heavy rains.
The lake of Yurirapúndaro, is the only one which belongs to this State;—it is four leagues long by one and a half in width, and embosoms several islands. Its sweet waters are filled with small fish, which are taken daily by the Indians, for the markets of the neighborhood and the capital, but its actual depth is unknown.
The climate of Guanajuato is genial, its sky nearly always clear, and its atmosphere pure. Owing to its site, immediately north of the torrid zone, the inhabitants do not suffer the extremes of heat or cold. Elevated about 8,000 feet above the level of the sea, its rarefied atmosphere counteracts the direct rays of the sun, so that its mean temperature is 21° of the centigrade thermometer, whilst it never exceeds 28° in the months between April and June, which are generally reckoned the warmest in this part of the Republic. During this season the rain usually begins to fall, and lowers the temperature agreeably. The north wind prevails during the greater part of the year; yet near the period of the annual rains it changes for a while to the south, bringing with it an abundance of moist vapor to fertilize the soil. Nothing is sadder for the people of Guanajuato and the adjacent States than to find, as sometimes happens, the months passing without this customary change of wind. In such years the crops fail; the prices of grain consequently rise, and the poor classes suffer extremely. The year 1786, is known in the annals of this region, as one well remembered still for the famine that prevailed in consequence of a severe frost that occurred on the 28th of the preceding August, blighting the prospects of the farmer, and carrying off 8,000 victims in the capital and the adjacent mines alone. In the month of May agriculture often suffers from violent hail storms that prostrate the young grain which at this season of the year is usually extremely dry in consequence of the early heats and the want of irrigation.
The mild and pure climate of Guanajuato renders it a healthy residence. In its southern part, about Salvatierra and Yurirapúndaro, intermittent fevers, calledlos frios, or agues, occasionally prevail. Dropsy, rheumatism, common lever, and dysenteries, which usually sweep off large numbers of Mexicans, are milder and more
GUANAJUATO.GUANAJUATO.
easily treated in this region than in other portions of the Republic. The laborers in the mines formerly suffered from diseases of the chest, arising probably from the mephitic vapors which were confined in the badly ventilated galleries; but the Deputacion de la Mineria took this subject into consideration, and have forced the owners of mines by stringent laws to construct shafts and openings by which these buried workmen may receive continual supplies of fresh air.
Maize, wheat, frijoles, beans, and the common cereal grains are produced abundantly in the fertile plains of the Bajio and San Felipé. Corn, though the chief product for consumption, not only for man but for beasts, is often so abundant, that the farmers are obliged to export it to other States. The quality of the wheat of this State is so excellent, that when it will bear the cost of transportation, it is sent to the national capital, where it commands a better price than even the grain raised in the immediate vicinity of the city. Thefrijol,—a fine dark, nutritious bean, which is commonly used throughout Mexico, by all classes, from the highest to the lowest,—grows abundantly in Guanajuato. The Chile pepper is used in Mexico, not only as a seasoning for food as in other countries, but as an aliment of life, which is placed on tables of all ranks at dinner. It is consumed both in its green and dry states, and in the latter, it is exported from Guanajuato to the capital, where the product of the haciendas or plantations at Apaseo are preferred by the epicures as being of the best flavor in the Republic. The vine, is also cultivated in various parts of this State, especially at Dolores Hidalgo, Celaya, and Chamacuero, but as manufactories of wine have not been established, its culture does not extend beyond the quantity of grapes required for consumption in the markets. The potato does not flourish in this State.
It is believed that the olive may be advantageously reared in Guanajuato. At the beginning of the present century, Joaquin Gutierrez de los Rios made the experiment at hishaciendade Sarabia, within the district of Salamanca. The scarcity and dearness of oil in Spain, at that period, in consequence of the war, enabled the mill established by this person to supply the neighborhood with the article at such prices, that the lucky proprietor realized a large income from his enterprize. But during the insurrection in 1810, his property was destroyed, and with it, a large part of his olive plantation. At present, considerable plantations are making at several haciendas, especially at that of Mendoza, where 30,000 olive trees had been already planted in 1849.
The State of Guanajuato is divided into four departments or prefectures:—1st. San Miguel de Allende; 2d. Leon; 3d. Guanajuato; 4th Celaya; whose capitals or chief towns bear the same names. The possession by this State of the great and celebratedVeta Madrewhich passes nearly through its centre, and of the wide and prolific plains of the Bajio and of San Felipé renders it equally valuable as a mining and agricultural region, and divides it fairly between the two branches of industry. Its population may be estimated at about 560,000; twenty-five per cent. of which comprises the whites, thirty-six per cent. the mixed races, and thirty-nine per cent. the Indian. Guanajuato contains three cities, four market-towns, thirty-seven villages, and four hundred and fifty estates, plantations and farms.
The capital of the State is the city ofGuanajuato, or Santa Fé de Guanajuato, situated in 21° 0´ 15´´ north latitude and 103° 15´ west longitude from Paris, about 6,869 feet above the level of the sea, according to the measurement of Burkhart, and containing between 35,000 and 40,000 inhabitants. The town is perhaps the most curiously picturesque and remarkable in the republic. "Entering a rocky Cañada," says a recent traveller, "the bottom of which barely affords room for a road, you pass between high adobe walls, above which, up the steep, rise tier above tier of blank, windowless, sun-dried houses, looking as if they had grown out of the earth. You would take them to be a sort of cubic crystallization of the soil. Every corner of the windings of the road is filled with buildings of mining companies—huge fortresses of stone, ramparted as if for defence. The scene varies with every moment;—now you look up to a church with purple dome and painted towers; now the blank adobe walls, with here and there a spiry cypress or graceful palm between them, rise far above you, along the steep ledges of the mountain; and again the mountain itself, with its waste of rock and cactus, is all you see. The Cañada, finally seems to close. A precipice of rock, out of a rift in which the stream flows, shuts the passage. Ascending this by a twist in the road you are in the heart of the city. Lying partly in the narrow bed of the ravine and partly on its sides and in its lateral branches, it is only by mounting to some higher eminence that one can realize its extent and position. At the further end of the city the mountains form acul de sac. The Cañada is a blind passage which can only be left by the road you came. The streets are narrow, crooked, and run up and down in all directions, and there is no room for plazas or alamedas. A little triangular space in front of the cathedral,however, aspires to the former title." Such is the aspect of a city which is the focus of a mineral region surrounded by more than one hundred mines, which are wrought by seventy-five thousand laborers.
In spite of all the natural difficulties and impediments for fine architecture, Guanajuato contains some fine edifices, especially among the private residences of the wealthy miners, such as the families of Otero, Valenciana, Rhul and Perez Galvez. The church of the Jesuits was built by the Marquis Rayas. Besides the cathedral, the town contains two chapels, three monasteries, five convents, a college, a Bethlehemite hospital, a theatre, a barrack, a mint, an university, and a gymnasium.
TheVilla de Leon, is a market town west north-west from Guanajuato, in 21° 6´ 38´´ north latitude, and 103° 39´ west longitude, 6,004 feet above the sea, in the productive plain of Leon.
San Felipéis another market town, 32 leagues north of Guanajuato, on the road to San Luis Potosi, 6,906 feet above the sea. Ten leagues north-east from San Felipé is the valuable estate of Jaral, the property of the Marquis del Jaral, the wealthiest and largest land owner in Mexico. His stock of cattle, comprising horses, mules, horned-cattle, sheep and goats amounts to nearly three million head![66]Thirty thousand sheep alone, and as many goats, are annually slaughtered on this estate for the markets of Guanajuato and Mexico, where the sheep sell for from two and a half to three dollars a piece, and the goats from seventy-five cents to one dollar each!
Celayais a city, and next in importance to Guanajuato in the State. It lies in 20° 38´ north latitude, and 102° 52´ west longitude, near the boundary of Querétaro, 6,020 feet above the sea, and contains about 15,000 inhabitants.
Salamancais a market town in the Bajio, nine leagues west from Celaya, and is the chief place of a region possessing twenty-nine haciendas, or plantation estates, and sixty-nine valuable farms. Its population is estimated at 15,000. Irapuato, lies about six leagues north-west from Salamanca, and contains perhaps an equal number of inhabitants.
San Miguel Allende, formerlySan Miguel el Grande, is the capital of the department of that name, lies directly north of Celaya, on the river de la Laja, where it cuts the division between the two departments. Dolores Hidalgo is on the same stream, north-west of the last town, and is remarkable in the annals of the country as theresidence of the priest Hidalgo, under whose auspices the revolutionary movement against Spain originated.
The mineral products of this State have been and still continue very valuable. The chief silver mines are those of Guanajuato, Villalpando, Monte de San Nicolas, Santa Rosa, Santa Anna, S. Antonio de las Minas, Comanja, El Capulin, Comangilla, San Luis de la Paz, San Rafael de los Lobos, El Duranzo, San Juan de la Chica, Rincon de Zenteno, San Pedro de los Pozos, El Palmar de la Viga, San Miguel y San Felipé. All these mines and mineral districts recognize the jurisdiction of the Deputacion de Mineria de Guanajuato, although some of them lie out of the immediate boundaries of the State.
Besides the silver yielded at these places, copper and iron are produced by some of them; and at El Gigante cinnabar has been discovered disseminated among other substances. Lead is taken abundantly from the mine of La Targea; but the mining operations of the State are chiefly confined to silver.
In the southern part of the State large quantities of soda are found near Celaya, Salamanca and Valle de Santiago; and in the north, in the vicinity of San Felipé, the earth is impregnated, in many places, with nitrate of potash or nitre. Mineral waters and thermal springs exist on the southern slope of the Cerro del Cubilete, near Silao, and are used by invalids; while in the jurisdictions of Leon, near Irapuato or San Miguel Allende and Celaya, other warm and sulphur springs are found which are beneficially frequented by persons who suffer from rheumatism and cutaneous diseases.
This rich metallic region and State lies between the 21st and 25th degrees of north latitude and 1021/2and 1051/2west longitude from Paris. It is bounded on the north by Durango and Nuevo Leon on the east by San Luis Potosi; on the south-east by Guanajuato; and on the west and south-west by Jalisco. Its greatest breadth, from Sombrereté to Real del Ramos, in the State of San Luis, is fifty-seven leagues, and its extreme length is 90. The superficial area of the State is reckoned at 2,355 square leagues.
Zacatécas is a mountain country of the high plateau of Mexico, cut up by spurs of the Cordillera and inhospitably arid. The region between Catorcé in San Luis Potosi, and Sombrereté and Mazapil in Zacatécas is a broad plain, interspersed by a few