St. Francisco, fifty-six miles east south-east of St. Markʼs.
St. Pedro, forty-four miles east south-east of St. Markʼs.
Apalachicola, on the Apalachicola river, 100 miles north-east of Pensacola in West Florida.
Neuvilla, fifty-four miles south south-east of St. Markʼs; and—
Talahosochete, an Indian town, 30 miles north of St. Markʼs.
In West Florida, the capital,Pensacola, is situated on the west side of Pensacola Bay; this harbour is one of the finest in the Floridas, safe from every wind, and having from seven to eight fathom water, so that vessels drawing 21 feet may enter.
Pensacola, is in 30° 28ʹ north latitude, and 87° 12ʹ west longitude. The city is of an oblong form, about a mile in length and a quarter of a mile in breadth, delightfully placed, and accounted a very healthy place. The entrance into the bay is fortified by a small fort on Rosa Island, and a battery on the opposite shore.
The Spaniards took this town on the 11th of May, 1781.
When it was in the hands of the English, the houses were elegant and spacious; it exported, in skins, furs, logwood, and dyeing stuffs to England, to the amount of 68,000l.annually, and its imports from England were valued at 97,000l.for the same period. The town and forts were not surrendered to the Spanish troops, until the English garrison had made a most determined and protracted resistance. The whole province fell atthe same time into their hands, since which, Pensacola has been on the decline.
A river called the Escambia Coenecah runs near the town, and supplies it with water; it falls into the bay, and is navigable for boats for fifty miles, and for sloops for twenty.
The other towns of most importance in West Florida are,St. Josef, or the bay of St. Josef, near Cape St. Blaz, in the Gulf of Mexico, situated in 85° 34ʹ west longitude, and 29° 45ʹ north latitude.
Wells, a sea-port on the west-side of St. Andrewʼs Bay, and in 30° 25ʹ north latitude, and 85° 50ʹ west longitude, and—
Campbeltown, in Pensacola Bay, is seven miles north north-east of Pensacola.
The rivers of East Florida are chiefly theApalachicola, which rises in the United States, and as before stated, forms the boundary between the two Floridas; it is a considerable river, and falls into the Mexican Gulf near Cape St. Blaz. The mouth of the Apalachicola is encircled with a number of small islands, named St. Georgeʼs Isles.
Nassau River; a small stream, which joins the ocean in 81° 42ʹ west longitude, 30° 49ʹ north latitude.
St. Maryʼs River, famous only for its being a part of the northern boundary between Georgia and Florida; it rises in a small lake in the great Ekanfanoga Swamp, and after a short course, runs into the Atlantic in St. Maryʼs Bay, in 81° 41ʹ west longitude, and 30° 35ʹ north latitude. The Americans have a town called St. Maryʼs, on their side of the mouth of the river.
St. Johnʼs River, which rises in a swamp in the southern part of East Florida, and after running northerly for a short distance, forms several lakes; the largest of which is Lake George; it then again pursues its course to the northward, andturning to the east, joins the Atlantic in 81° 42ʹ west longitude, and 30° 22ʹ north latitude; its mouth is encumbered with a bar, otherwise it is a broad and fine river, and being situated within ten leagues of the capital is very serviceable.
Apalachia River, orApalache, a small river which empties itself into the Bay of Apalachia, in the Mexican Gulf, in 84° 28ʹ west longitude, and 29° 43ʹ north latitude.
St. Johnʼs River, rises in Ekanfanoga Swamp, and after a winding course of two hundred miles, falls into Apalachia Bay, to the east of Apalachia River. This is said to be the purest of American rivers, receiving in its course no tributary streams, but being fed solely by the springs which exist in its banks; it is two hundred yards broad, and twenty feet deep at the Indian town of Talahosochete in East Florida.
There are a few other rivers in East Florida, the names of which are, the Assilla, St. Markʼs river, St. Matheoʼs river, which falls into Apalachia Bay, the Amajura, the Tampa and the Manatte; the two latter of which fall into the Bay del Espirtu Santo, and the Romano, which falls into Carlos harbour; but of these so little is known, as indeed is the case with respect to every thing relating to the Floridas, that a particular description is impracticable. The latitudes and longitudes of many of the above places and rivers, are variously laid down in the maps, and different accounts are given of them by different authors; so that it is not probable that they are exact; the most correct sources of information have been sought, and as no late observations have been made in the country we have been describing, the reader must unfortunately remain satisfied with the imperfect account we are enabled to give of a colony which belonged within the memory of the present generation to Great Britain, but of which, no British author has given an explicit account.
The rivers of West Florida, are the boundary stream, theRio Perdido, or Lost River, so called by the Spaniards, because it loses itself for a short distance under ground, and then appears again and empties itself into the Mexican Gulf, in Perdido Bay, which is a large basin, though at its entrance not very wide, yet gradually enlarging till it meets the mouth of the river, which joins it in 87° 26ʹ west longitude, and 30° 26ʹ north latitude, ten leagues east of Mobile Point, and four leagues west of the line of Pensacola. This river stretches to the north-east, and in one place comes within a mile of the Great Lasson, that is to the west of Pensacola harbour.
The Rio Perdido, was formerly the boundary between the French and Spanish dominions, and is now considered by the treaty of 1783, as the limit between Mississippi territory and West Florida. By this treaty, the eastern and southern boundaries of Louisiania were fixed, and thus defined; “south on the Gulf of Mexico, from the Bay of St. Bernard, south-west of the Mississippi River, to the mouth of the Rio Perdido, up the Perdido to its source, and thence, (if it rise not north of the 31° of north latitude,) in a straight line north to that parallel, (31° north latitude,) thence along the southern boundary of the United States, west to the Mississipi, then up this river to its source.” The northern and western boundary of Louisiania will be spoken of under the head of New Mexico.
TheSt. Andrewʼs Riverruns into a bay of the same name in the Gulf of Mexico, in 85° 40ʹ west longitude, and 30° 17ʹ north latitude.
Swamps.—The great swamp of Ekanfanska, called by the natives Ouaquaphenogaw, forms a striking feature of East Florida; through which the boundary of this province runs by an imaginary line. The swamp is half in Georgia and half in Florida; it is 300 miles in circumference, and in the rainy season, bears the appearance of a vast lake, with several large spots of firm land, whichmay be denominated islands, as they are nearly always surrounded with water; one of these the American tribes call a heavenly dwelling, which is peopled by a peculiarly gifted race, who enjoy all the pleasures and luxuries of the savage life in perfection; whose women are very lovely, and supposed to be the children of the Sun. These people, who are conjectured to exist there, have been said, though with less of the marvellous, to be a tribe of Indians, who in some wars with the Creeks, had been nearly exterminated and fled here for shelter. The islands in the swamp are fertile; in it rises the river St. Mary and some others. There are several large tracts of marshy ground in both the Floridas, which are extremely fertile.
Lakes.—The lakes of Florida are more numerous than large, the principal one is Lake George, or the Great Lake, and Mayaco, a large expanse of water and swampy land, in which, or near which, the river St. John rises. Lake George is formed by the river St. Juan, filling a large valley with its waters; it is about fifteen miles in breadth, adorned with many beautiful and fertile islands, the largest of which is two miles long, commanding an extensive prospect; on this island are the remains of an Indian town of considerable size. The waters of Lake George, are from fifteen to twenty feet deep; the river St. John, forms in its course many other lakes, but none of them so large as are laid down in early maps, which are all, and even those of a later period, miserably defective with respect to Florida, although that country has been long in the possession of Great Britain. Another lake of some extent is laid down in the best maps near Apalachia Bay; but of it little information has been given; what is called Hillsborough River, may with equal propriety be termed a lake; it cuts off a long slip of land parallel to the east coast, reaching from St. Augustine southwards.
Islands.—The islands on the coast of Florida are numerous, but not of any very great consequence. The chief ones are Amelia Island near the north-west boundary of East Florida in the Atlantic; extending from the mouth of the river St. Mary to the mouth of the Nassau River, and on which is a town called Fernandina, with a small fort.
Corne Island, on the coast of West Florida, ten miles long and one broad, in 82° 32ʹ west longitude, and 30° 11ʹ north latitude.
Roebuck Island, near the same coast, in 84° 45ʹ west longitude, 30° 17ʹ north latitude.
St. Anastasia Island, on the east coast of East Florida, eighteen miles in length, and from one to three wide, in 81° 36ʹ west longitude, and 29° 48ʹ north latitude.
Cluster of theEspiritu Santo Islands, in a bay of the same name, on the west coast of East Florida.
Santa Rosa Island, on the south coast of West Florida, thirty-six miles in length, and two wide, in 86° 50ʹ west longitude, and 30° 26ʹ north latitude.
Talbot Island, on the coast of East Florida, eight miles long and two wide, in 84° 42ʹ west longitude, and 30° 26ʹ north latitude; and some others.
Bays.—The bays of Florida are chiefly the following.
Espiritu Santo, orNassau Bay, in East Florida or the west coast, a large and fine bay full of islands, which reaches from 82° 35ʹ to 83° west longitude, and 27° 45ʹ to 28° 10ʹ north latitude.
Santa Rosa Bay, on the coast of West Florida, in 86° 5ʹ to 86° 32ʹ west longitude, and 30° 33ʹ north latitude.
Pensacola Bayand theBay of St. Josef, in West Florida.
The great bayApalachia,Carlos Bay,St. Maryʼs Bay, andBay of St. Augustine, in East Florida.
Capes.—The most remarkable capes or headlands are,—
Cape St. BlazorSt. Blas, near the mouth of the Apallachicola River, and situated in 85° 35ʹ west longitude, and 35° 44ʹ north latitude.
Sandy Point, the north part of Santa Rosa Bay in West Florida.
Cape Cross, in 84° 80ʹ west longitude, 46° 25ʹ north latitude, coast of West Florida.
Cape Florida, the most easterly point of East Florida, on the west side of the Gulf or Straits of Florida, in 80° 37ʹ west longitude, 25° 44ʹ north, latitude.
Cape Roman, in 82° 25ʹ west longitude, and 25° 40ʹ north latitude.
Cape Sable, the most southerly point of East Florida, in 81° 49ʹ west longitude, and 24° 57ʹ north latitude, and—
Cape Carnaveral,Punta Larga, and the Promontory in East Florida.
We shall close this account with some circumstances relating to the government, the late events which have taken place on the coast of Florida, and the funds allotted for the support of the administration.
The Floridas are usually included under the government of the Capitania-general of the Havannah, forming, with Cuba, one of the great governments of the Spanish American colonies. So little is known of the subdivisions of this captain-generalship, that it would be futile to attempt an enumeration of them; as errors must inevitably occur, so thus it will be better not to state the uncertain knowledge we possess of them, than to run the risk of misleading the reader.
The insurgents of Spanish America have lately been carrying on some operations in this quarter, and have established themselves in Amelia Island, at a town called Fernandina, where they have built batteries for their defence, and to whose port they carry many of the prizes they make of the Spanish merchant vessels in the West Indian seas. Theyare principally European adventurers, who have raised a flag in Amelia Island, which they display occasionally in their predatory incursions on the neighbouring continent; on this flag is a green cross, designated by them the green cross of the Floridas; they have hitherto been unsuccessful in their efforts, and have not been assisted by the Colonists. The government of the United States, have lately taken forcible possession of this port.
The expences of the administration of Florida are disbursed from the treasury of Mexico, the situado or annual remittance for this purpose being sent by way of the Havannah to Pensacola, and amounting in general to the sum of 62,700l.sterling. This sum is usually remitted to the intendant or governor of Pensacola.
The most important of all the kingdoms of Spanish America, is New Spain; therefore, before commencing with a detailed description of its boundaries and situation, we shall give a concise view of those circumstances which are of most importance, with respect to its history, colonization, &c.
Under the title of Viceroy of New Spain, a Spanish officer of the highest rank governs a territory, which, in Europe, would be designated as an empire; for it comprehends a surface extending from the thirty-ninth to the sixteenth degree of north latitude; in its broadest part, occupying 22 degrees of longitude, and is washed by the waters of the Great Pacific on its western, and by those of the Mexican Gulf, or Atlantic Ocean, on its eastern shores; having unknown lands to its north; the republic of the United States of America to its east; and the government of Guatimala, as its southern limit; thus occupying one of the mostadvantageously situated positions in the political world, whether for the facilities afforded to its commerce, by the vicinity of two oceans, or by its stretching through part of the Torrid and Temperate Zones, affording from the heat of the one, the luxuries of the East, and from the mildness of the other, the necessaries of human existence in the most profuse abundance; here too exist more mines of silver and gold, of copper, tin, &c., than in any other part of America; whilst its western shores afford the pearl muscle, equal, if not superior, to the celebrated produce of Ormus and Ceylon.
That enterprizing and enlightened traveller, M. le Baron de Humboldt, states the population of this viceroyalty of Mexico, or New Spain, to have exceeded, in the year 1806, six millions five hundred thousand souls; and its surface to extend over a space equal to 118,748 square leagues, at twenty-five leagues for each degree.
Discovery, &c.—The person who made the greatest figure in discovering and subjugating this extensive region, wasFernando Cortez, a native of Old Spain, born at a town called Medellin, in Estremadura, about thirteen miles south-east of Merida, in the year 1485, of a noble family whose fortune had declined. He was intended for the law, and studied at Salamanca; but his restless disposition caused him to quit all prospects in this pursuit, and to follow the adventurers of the day in America; he went accordingly to Hispaniola, where he obtained lucrative posts; but, still dissatisfied, quitted the island in 1511, under the command of Velasquez, in an expedition to the island of Cuba. Here he distinguished himself by his bravery, and was chosen to undertake a voyage of discovery to the coasts of Mexico; he spent the greater part of his fortune in equipping his army and fleet; and on the 18th of November 1518, set sail from Cuba, but anchored again, and sailed for the Havannah, to complete his stores; here he suffered much delayand vexation from the jealousy of Velasquez, and having secured the fidelity of his followers, by the promises of immense wealth, and his engaging qualities (for he was a man of the most insinuating address, and of great personal endowments, a robust and soldier-like appearance, and a dauntless mind), he completed by his own exertions, and those of his officers, amongst whom was Pizarro, then a youth, who afterwards rendered himself so famous in Peru, his armament, which consisted of eleven small vessels, containing 617 men, 508 being soldiers, and 109 sailors or workmen, with ample stores of provision.
Cortez once more set sail from Cuba, in the year 1519, on the 10th day of February, and steered for the Isle of Cozumel, on which he landed, and then proceeded to the River Tabasco; where he forced the natives to acknowledge the Spanish king. His standard bore a cross with this motto, “Follow we this sign, for beneath it we shall conquer.” Procuring provisions, a present of gold, some cotton clothing; and 20 female slaves, he sailed to the west, and landed at the place now called St. Juan de Ullua, where he fortified himself, disembarked all his men, horses, and guns, having previously conciliated the natives.
The Emperor of Mexico hearing of the arrival of the Spanish ships at this place, sent two embassadors to meet the strangers, to inquire their intentions, and to offer his assistance in furthering their voyage. They received from Cortez a haughty reply, that “he would confer with no other person than the emperor.” The silly Mexicans, alarmed at the unusual appearance of the troops, the horses, the ships, and the artillery, endeavoured to conciliate the commander by rich presents. The embassadors had painters in their train, who were busily employed in tracing these wonderful objects, during the interviews; and Cortez, observing the circumstance, to give a greater effect to his warlike show, made his troops go through their manœuvres, andfired his cannon at some trees. The poor Mexicans, astonished at this display, fell with their faces to the earth, being unable to withstand the alarm caused by the report of the guns. They returned to Mexico, and with incredible dispatch, some presents which Cortez had given them, were transported to the capital, a distance of 180 miles; and other messengers returned, accompanied by a train of one hundred Indians, bearing the most costly gifts of silver, gold, &c. An emblem of the sun, in massive gold, and another of the moon, worth 5000l.in silver, were amongst the articles. These magnificent gifts, it was hoped would conciliate the Spaniards, and make them consent to relinquish their idea of marching into the interior; Montezuma, the emperor, declaring he would not permit their staying longer in his dominions; but instead of attempting to eject them, he sent another and more costly present.
The natives however discontinued supplying the troops with provision, and the embassadors of Montezuma left the camp in resentment; the soldiers imagining that they should be attacked, came to open mutiny; but Cortez, by promises, threats and presents, gained their affections, and offered to lead them to the attack of the capital; after having punished the ringleaders, he assembled a council, and laid his warrant before them, telling them he would only be chosen as their leader, by their united consent. This experiment succeeded; they unanimously elected him commander in chief and president of the new Colony, and then formed a corporation to govern the town they were about to found. This they immediately commenced, and called it Villa Rica de la Vera Cruz. “The rich City of the true Cross.”
Whilst employed in this work, Cortez received overtures from the Indian town of Zempoalla, to assist him in his enterprise against Montezuma; he accordingly matched thither, and assisted by itsinhabitants, founded another settlement, about 100 miles to the northward of Vera Cruz; this was at the Indian town of Quiabaslan. The caciques or chiefs of Zempoalla and Quiabaslan, placed themselves under his protection; and their example was followed by the Totonaques, a powerful and warlike tribe, who inhabited the mountain country.
Whilst engaged in fortifying his new acquisition, and rendering it habitable, a second conspiracy was plotted against him; to counteract this, he proposed two methods, the latter of which was the most extraordinary that ever entered the mind of man. In the first place, he proposed to the council, to send an account of the riches, fertility, &c. of the country, to Don Carlos of Austria, the Spanish monarch, and to request him to ratify their proceedings, and to appoint Cortez, by the sign manual, as they had already done, in the name and on the behalf of His Majesty; this they consented to, and a vessel was dispatched for Spain, with orders not to touch at Cuba, for fear of the intention being thwarted by Velasquez. The second proposal was “To burn the fleet.” This, after great persuasion, and exhausting all his arts, he obtained their consent to do, and it was accordingly performed; thus leaving between five and six hundred men, at the mercy of a powerful and populous empire.
After obtaining this triumph over the adherents of Velasquez, who had no resource but in the capacity of their leader, and in their own courage, marched from Zempoalla, on the 16th of August, 1519, with five hundred soldiers, fifteen horses, and six cannon; the cacique of Zempoalla gave him four hundred warriors and two hundred slaves. The rest of the troops were left as a garrison, to defend Villa Rica. With this force, he entered the state of Tlascala, where he met with great opposition for fourteen days; but after having beaten the Tlascalans at all points, without losing a man, these people made overtures forpeace: he accepted their proposals, and they ever after acted as his best allies. He halted twenty days in Tlascala, where he endeavoured, as he had before done at Zempoalla, to convert the natives; but succeeded only in abolishing the immolation of human victims on the altars of their deities. It was by the intervention of a priest, Bartolomeo de Olvedo, his chaplain, whose name deserves to be recorded, that Cortez was restrained from converting the natives by the sword, when he found he could not otherwise attain that object.
He next advanced against the state of Cholula, where he was treacherously received; and to avenge himself, massacred six thousand of the Cholulans. Cholula was only sixty miles march from Mexico. In the course of his advance, he was aided by the rebellious state of the surrounding country; and after a march of some days, saw the capital of the empire from the Chalco mountain. His troops were invigorated at the sight; and beholding such a rich and fertile country, such an immense city, and so beautiful a landscape, they conceived their fortunes to be made, and that their toils would now be soon ended. They marched until they arrived within a very short distance of the entrance to the city; when Montezuma, preceded by a train of a thousand nobles, himself sitting on a chair richly adorned with gold, and borne by men, surrounded with his guards and courtiers, advanced to meet the Spaniards; Cortez dismounting from his horse, saluted the emperor in an humble manner; cloths of cotton were then spread along the road, and Montezuma, quitting his chair of state, walked to meet and salute the Spanish commander; after much ceremony, the emperor conducted the general to a house prepared for the reception of himself and followers. No sooner had Cortez taken possession of his new habitation; than he set to work, and fortified it in the strongest manner he was able. The emperorshortly renewed his visit, accompanied by people bearing rich presents to the troops. It was at this interview, that Cortez learnt, from the unguarded expressions of the Mexican ruler, the reason why he had not been attacked. It appeared, that the Mexicans had traditions and prophecies, that a powerful race would come from the regions towards the East, where their deity, the Sun, rose, and that these people would overturn and chastise their country for the punishment of their sins; in this, Montezuma was a firm believer; and it was from the motive of religion alone, supposing that the Sun would exterminate his people if violence was offered to his children, that the monarch was persuaded to act in the way he did.
Cortez immediately seized the idea, and by his artful conduct was received as a child of the same universal Parent, the Sun, by the emperor and by his people. He spent several successive days in viewing the city, and making his observations; at the same time assuring Montezuma, that he was the embassador of the greatest monarch amongst the children of the Sun; and that his master had sent him with the most friendly designs to his brethren the Mexicans. Having fortified his house, which was surrounded by a stone wall and turrets, and keeping a large body of his men constantly on the alert, he came to the resolute determination of seizing Montezuma in his palace, and confining him in the Spanish quarters. He entered the palace, thirty men waiting outside of the audience hall, whilst Cortez, five officers, and five soldiers, placed themselves in the presence. He addressed Montezuma, and complaining of several things which he affected to dread, he requested the emperor would condescend to live in the Spanish quarters, until the alarm excited by some unusual appearances, had subsided. Montezuma reluctantly consented, and was escorted thither by the men. He was at first treated with all the attention and respect due to a mighty sovereign;but, after a short interval, Cortez, with a soldier bearing fetters, came to his apartment, and told him that his garrison at Villa Rica had been attacked, and that he was the instigator of the insult; that he had ordered the guilty to be executed, and that the emperor himself must feel the weight of his anger. Turning fiercely to the soldier, he commanded him to fetter the legs of Montezuma. The unfortunate monarch and his attendants were sunk in grief and affliction, and Cortez left the room to attend at the execution of the sentence on the culprits. After this was ended, he repaired to the Emperorʼs chamber, and with his own hands, took off the shackles.
For six months Montezuma remained a prisoner, and Cortez during this time was employed in reconnoitring the country, preparing to build vessels on the lake, and dividing the spoils amongst his soldiers. In attempting to establish the Catholic faith, by throwing down the Mexican idols, he nearly ruined all his schemes, as the whole people were about to rise. At this juncture Montezuma requested he might be liberated, and declared that his power of saving the Spaniards was at an end, as his people would inevitably revenge the insult offered their Gods; he concluded by requesting that the embassy would withdraw from his territories, as he could no longer answer for their safety: previously however to this communication, the Emperor had acknowledged himself a vassal of the Spanish King, and had sent to Cortez his tokens of homage, executed in all the prescribed forms, with a magnificent present, accompanied by others from his subjects. The Spanish commander had therefore good reason for not listening to the request of Montezuma; he replied, that he intended to send to his master the presents, and in time to return himself, but that he must build new ships first.
Whilst these discussions were going on, Velasquez, who had heard of the success of Cortez by the vesselwhich had touched at Cuba, (contrary to express command), had fitted out a fleet of eighteen vessels, with 800 infantry, eighty horse soldiers, twelve pieces of ordnance, and 120 arquebusiers, or crossbow men. Pamphilo de Narvaez, was appointed commander of the force, with instructions to seize Cortez and his staff, to conquer the empire in the name of Velasquez, and send the general and his officers prisoners to Cuba. Cortez hearing of the arrival of this armament, and that the troops under Narvaez, had marched to Zempoalla, determined to quit Mexico, leaving 150 men to guard Montezuma, and the capital; arriving at Zempoalla, he sent bribes to the officers of Narvaez army, many of whom were seduced, and attacking his enemy in the night with only 250 men, completely defeated him, and was joined by his followers the next day; receiving notice however, soon after the combat, that his little garrison in the capital had been attacked by the Mexicans, he returned to that city with two thousand Tlascalan warriors, who joined him in his march. He entered the city without resistance, but was soon after attacked in his fortress in the most resolute manner, and having made a sally in which he lost twelve men, and sixty wounded, he was forced to retreat; he again sallied, and was wounded in the hand. He then had recourse to the stratagem of placing the Emperor in the view of his enraged subjects. Montezuma endeavoured to pacify them; they listened with attention, but directly he had finished his speech, they again renewed the assault, and the forlorn monarch was wounded by an arrow.
He refused all aid from the Spaniards, and tearing open his wounds, expired, frantic with rage and despair. After the death of the Emperor, Cortez found that he could no longer maintain his position; he according quitted it secretly in the night, and marched for the Tlascalan territories. On viewing his troops after several hot assaults,which they experienced on the march, he is reported to have shed tears. Having recruited the spirits of his followers, and mustering the remainder of his forces, he again bent his course towards the capital, determined to perish or conquer. His infantry amounted to 550 men, his cavalry to 40, and he had 9 pieces of cannon; with this force of Spaniards, there marched 10,000 Indian allies, mostly Tlascalans, and on the 28th of December, 1520, the whole army were in motion exactly six months after the evacuation of Mexico.
He fixed his head-quarters at Tezcuco, on the banks of the lake 20 miles from the capital. In this city, the natives adhered to his cause, and assisted him in building thirteen small ships, which he launched on the lake. At this juncture, four vessels, fitted out by his friends in Hispaniola arrived with two hundred infantry, eight horses, and supplies of arms and ammunition. He therefore immediately attacked the city on the east, west and south. It was defended by Guatimozin, the new Emperor, with undaunted courage, and Cortez himself was once taken prisoner, but fortunately rescued, though wounded in the attempt. His soldiers who fell into the hands of the Mexicans, were immolated with horrid barbarity on the altars of the god of war. His allies, the Indians, now amounted to 150,000, and his vessels kept possession of the lakes Tezcuco and Chalco. This siege continued with vigour for 75 days, and the town capitulated on the 21st August, 1521, when Guatimozin, the Emperor, was taken prisoner; but the Spaniards had ruined three-fourths of the city in their attempts to take it; they had, therefore, a barren triumph. Cortez stained his victory by ordering the Emperor to be put to the torture, in order to make him confess where he had hid his treasure; which, in fact, he had caused to be thrown into the lake. It would be useless to detail the other proceedings of the army in the conquestof the provinces of the Mexican empire; suffice it to say, that they all yielded without much opposition to the Spanish conquerors.
Cortez now projected other discoveries, and named the country he had taken possession of, New Spain; in his views of aggrandizement, he was much impeded by cabal both at home and abroad; even an edict was issued by the King of Spain, to seize his person; this was, however, revoked, and he was appointed Captain-General of New Spain, by the Emperor Charles the Fifth. Other cabals being formed against him, and a fresh order of seizure made out, which was only prevented being put into effect by the death of the commissioner, Ponce de Leon. Cortez, after settling his affairs in the New World, returned to Spain, where his address and manners gained him the affections of Charles, who conferred on him the order of St. Jago, and the title of Marques del Valle de Guaxaca (still held by his descendants) together with the grant of a large district of New Spain. His unabated ardour for discovery caused him to return to the New World, which he did in 1530.
Long previous to this event, the Spanish government determined that he should have only the situation of commander in chief, and hence arose the division of power which afterwards embittered his whole life. Anaudienza real, or royal audience, was appointed for New Spain; through the hands of this Court, all the civil affairs of the country were administered. Having now, therefore, neither the authority nor the influence he before held, he determined to remove himself from the scene of his disgusts; and accordingly, finding that the plans of discovery which he had prepared and sent people to put in execution, in 1522, had all failed, he determined, in 1536, to undertake them himself, and having fitted out some vessels, he discovered the vast Californian Gulf and part of its shores, when, after enduring incredible hardships, he returnedto Mexico; here his distresses were renewed, and once more to obtain justice, he sailed for his native country, where he arrived in 1540; not being able to obtain his wishes, his vexation had so much effect upon his health, that his constitution, robust and vigorous as it had ever been, was unable to withstand the shock, and this extraordinary man quitted this transitory existence on the 2d of December, 1547, in the sixty-second year of his age.
During the absence of Cortez in California, in 1535, after the new kingdom of Spain had been governed by Luis Ponce de Leon, Nuno de Gusman and Ramirez de Fuenleal, a viceroy arrived from the Mother Country; this was the first viceroy of New Spain, and the government has descended from one to another ever since: the enumeration of them would be uninteresting, and tedious; we shall therefore pass them over, with the exception only of mentioning that there have been fifty (up to the year 1808), and that of these only one was an American, the Marquess de Casa Fuerte, who was a native of Peru; a descendant of the unfortunate Montezuma, Don Josef Sarmiento Valladares, Conde de Montezuma governed New Spain from the year 1697 to the year 1701; and of the descendants of that monarch, there are still three branches remaining, all of whom are Spanish nobles. A descendant of Columbus, Don Pedro Nuno Colon, Duke of Veragua, also held the viceroyalty of New Spain for six days, dying, suddenly after he was invested.
It is requisite for the nobleman who is advanced to this dignity to possess a large fortune, or there must be considerable emoluments attached to the vice-regal officesub rosa; for the salary of an American viceroy is only 12,600l.per annum, and with this he has to observe the state of a king; he has his body guards, who precede him whenever he goes out; he is served by pages, andallowed to eat only with the members of his own family, it being too great a condescension in the viceroy, to permit any inferior to sit at the same table with him.
The nobles of New Spain are represented as extremely numerous; the creoles seeking with great avidity after Spanish honours; the government have also ennobled the caciques or heads of the Indian tribes, who are extremely proud of their distinction. It is a singular circumstance, that the descendants of the kings and great chiefs who were in alliance with Montezuma at the time of the conquest, should many of them at present hold the chief authority by consent of the Spaniards over the tribes, which their ancestors governed, and which they now oppress still more than their forefathers did; the caciques being generally very proud, ignorant and vain of their fancied superiority.
In describing the natives of this country, we shall relate the manner in which they have been and are still governed; at present it will be necessary to recur to the political divisions of the territory of New Spain.
The viceroyalty of New Spain is divided into three provinces and twelve intendancies; which again suffer also some other minute subdivisions, which the enumerations will hereafter be given.
The three provinces and twelve intendancies are as follow:—The province of New Mexico; two provinces of California, or Old and New California. The intendancies of New Biscay, or Durango, Sonora, San Luis Potosi, Zacatecas, Guadalaxara, Guanaxuato, Valladolid or Mechoacan, Mexico, Puebla or Tlascala, Vera Cruz, Oaxaca, or Guaxaca, and Merida or Yucatan. The civilaffairs of these great territories are under the control of two supreme councils, calledAudienzas Reales, which govern the districts situated to the north and south of a certain line beginning thirty miles to the northward of the Panuco river, or Rio Tampico, in the Gulf of Mexico, and thence to St. Luis Potosi, along the southern boundary of the intendancy of Zacatecas and west side of the intendancy of the Guanaxuato, through the intendancy of Guadalaxara to Guatlan, a port on the Pacific.
To the north of this line, the audienza of Guadalaxara exerts its authority, and the southern part, till New Spain is bounded by the kingdom of Guatimala, is subject to the audienza of Mexico.
This immense viceroyalty is situated partly in the northern temperate, and partly in the torrid zone; and is politically governed by a viceroy nominated by the Court of Spain, and two captain-generals orcomandantes generales, who are in some measure under his authority. These last named governors have authority over,—Sonora, New Biscay, New Mexico, and the two Californias, which comprise the western captain-generalship; and Coaguila, Texas, the colony of New Santander, and New Leon, in the Intendancy of St. Luis Potosi; which comprise the eastern captain-generalship: part of these are, however, only subject to their authority as military commands, and to name those would afford no satisfaction, as the minute subdivisions of the governments of so vast a country are liable to constant changes.
New Spain is bounded on the north by an imaginary line the 39° of north latitude, reaching to Port San Francisco on the Pacific; the Pacific Ocean and Gulf of California bounds it on the west; on the east the United States Territory ofLouisiana, the Mexican Gulf and Bay of Honduras; and on the south the kingdom of Guatimala completes its boundaries.
The extent of this viceroyalty occupies a space equal to 118,478 square leagues, of twenty-five to a degree.
The climate of New Spain may be looked upon as the most extraordinary in the world, varying from the tropical heats to the mild and healthful climate of middle Europe, and to the frosts and snows of Siberia; this phenomenon being observable in a journey of a few hours across the ridge of the Cordilleras.
The sea coasts are hot and insalubrious in general; the port of Vera Cruz, on the east, and that of Acapulco, on the west, the two great emporiums of Mexican commerce, being amongst the most unhealthy places in the world. The southern parts of this kingdom, which are not on elevated land, are, during the whole year, subject to excessive heats; even in December the heat exceeding that of the English summer. The plains which extend along the ridges of the Cordillera are in general healthy, and their climate temperate, and the yellow fever extends its ravages only to a small distance from the coast to the interior; as soon as the land begins to rise this pestilence ceases.
The whole province of Mexico is crossed by a vast plain at the height of from 2000 to 2700 yards above the level of the sea; here the inhabitants enjoy a perpetual spring; and, although they live under the Torrid Zone, they occasionally feel a considerable degree of cold in the northern districts. The climate in the interior is so delightfulthat the natives sleep, with little covering, under the canopy of heaven.
The great Mexican plain above mentioned, may be said to extend through the whole of New Spain. Carriages traverse a distance of five hundred leagues on it from Mexico to Santa Fé in the north; the whole road being made with little labour, and nearly level. This enormous plain, or table land, as well as several others of less dimensions, forms the ridge of the Cordilleras, which goes by the names of Anahuac, Sierra Madre, Topia, &c. and is of great breadth. On its bosom repose the summits of gigantic mountains, which reach the region of perpetual snow. On the east coast the land is generally flat and swampy; and on the west, the descent of the central chain has four parallel valleys of great depth, which are richly cultivated.
The Cordillera of New Spain is evidently a continuation of the Andes; it traverses the captain-generalship of Guatimala, along its western coast, throwing out arms into the province of Honduras; it then turns eastward, for a short distance, on entering the kingdom of New Spain, and sends an arm into the province of Yucatan; rising afterwards gradually to the north, and occupying the middle of the continent; it then, in the province of Mexico, goes off to the east, where, forming the vast plain of Anahuac, it has its greatest elevation, and is here called Sierra Madre; the Popocatepetl, Iztaccihuatl, Pico de Orizaba, and Cofre de Perote being either in or on the borders of this province; the Popocatepetl, the highest summit of New Spain is 17,716 feet above the level of the sea.
The Cordillera then passes on to the north-west, and throws out three branches, one into New Leon, one into Guadalaxara, and one to the province of Zacatecas; it then continues northward, being of great breadth, till it passes the kingdom of New Spain, and on the borders assumes the names of Sierra de las Grullas, and Sierra Verde, after which it joins the Blue Mountains, and Stoney Mountains of north-west America. Amongst the lofty masses we have mentioned are some volcanoes, which constitute a magnificent part of the scenery; no less than five existing in the provinces of Mexico, Puebla, and Vera Cruz, some of which are enveloped in perpetual snows.
The sides of this great chain are covered with immense forests of every species of trees, which luxuriate according to their position; the hardy pine and fir occupying the upper, and the tropical productions the lower regions.
In the valleys, on the plains, sides, and at the foot of the chain, are observed beautiful cities, villages, and romantically situated farms, forests, interspersed with rivers, cataracts, and extraordinarily formed rocks. It is here that the painter might mature his taste for the wonderful, the rude, and the majestic features of nature. The soil, adapted to cultivation, is mostly a deep clay, which requires nothing more than irrigation to render it fertile in the extreme. The agricultural objects are principally wheat, maize, cotton, indigo, pimento, sugar, tobacco, the agave and cochineal plant. This applies chiefly to the southern portion, the more northerly being nearly in a state of nature. Sugar, cotton, cocoa and indigo flourish between 19° and 22° of north latitude, and are only abundantly produced at an elevation of from 1900 to 2600 feet; as also European grains at the height of from between 4550 to 9750 feet.
The oaks of Mexico grow to maturity only at from 2600 to 9750 feet of elevation; pines reach,toward the lower term of congelation, to a height of 13,000 feet, and descend on the east coast as low as 6000 feet above the level of the sea.
The banana, the great support of the natives, is found no higher than 4600 in a state of perfection. This fruit forms the principal food of the natives; when gathered green they cut it into slices, and lay them in the sun to dry, and pound it into meal, which they use for the same purposes that flour is generally put to; the fruit is also eaten.
The plantations of the banana are kept up by suckers. The same region which matures the banana, is also favourable to the manioc, which is powdered and made into bread. Of this root there are two kinds, one sweet, the other bitter; the latter is poisonous, unless carefully made into bread by separating the noxious juice. The bread of the manioc is called cassava, and is extremely nutritive; forming, when made up in a particular manner, by being smoked and grated, a substance which resists the attacks of insects, making one of the chief articles of provision on long journeys. They also make of the poisonous juice a sort of soy; but it is sometimes dangerous to use this sauce.
Manioc is cultivated by slips, and they have one harvest a-year, the whole process being nearly similar to that of potato planting. Maize occupies the same region, and reaches to maturity at the same elevation as the two former plants. This plant is of the utmost importance to the colonies, and, being indigenous, thrives better here than anywhere. It grows to the height of nine feet, and yields a hundred-and-fifty fold. It succeeds better in the southern provinces than in the northern, and forms a principal article of food to the inhabitants, to the mules employed in the mines, and in conveying goods from one province to another, and to the poultry, &c. When the harvest of maize fails, the unfortunate natives are reduced to the greatest straits.It yields, in the most favourable situations, three crops annually. This maize, or Indian corn, is eaten boiled and roasted, and, when ground, is made into bread. The meal is used for soups, under which form it is principally consumed. The Indians, also, by fermentation, make several intoxicating liquors from this plant, as well as a sort of beer; and, before the arrival of the Spaniards, the Mexicans made sugar of the stalks.
Wheat was first introduced by the Spaniards, and promises to become, with the other European grains, when the great roads are completed, one of the most abundant articles of the commerce of New Spain, as it already enters into competition, at the Havannah, with the flour of the United States; but the means of transport are at present so bad in the interior, that no great quantity is cultivated for exportation. The potato which was introduced by the Europeans thrives very well; for although it originally came from America, it was known only in the southern part at the time of the conquest. The capsicum, or pimento, the tomatas, rice, turnips, cabbages, sallads of all sorts, onions, and every kind of European vegetable are successfully cultivated. The table land produces all sorts of European fruits in great plenty; plums, apricots, figs, cherries, peaches, melons, pears, apples, &c. The vine and olive also flourish equally well, but are not frequently to be seen, on account of the Spanish Government discouraging the culture of these plants, as the commerce of the Peninsula, in oils and wine, would cease, if they were allowed to be reared; the climate of New Spain being more favourable for their production than that of Europe; however they are found in California, and some of the northern provinces, in great abundance. The tropical fruits, of every species, are met with in New Spain, guavas, ananas, sapotes, mameis, &c; and the Europeans appear to take great delight in their gardens. The orange andlemon plants, of almost every species, grow in these delightful regions, where animal food forms the secondary article of human nourishment.
The principal vegetable decoction which supplies the place of the brandies and strong liquors of Europe, is that produced from the agave, or maguey. The natives and Spaniards have large plantations of agave, for the purpose of forming from it their favourite beverage, called pulque, which is procured by wounding the plant at a particular season, from which there flows a ropy liquor, which they collect and ferment. Pulque, from being the great beverage of the Indians, and lower orders of Mexican Spaniards, yields an immense revenue to the government. The sugar cane is successfully cultivated, and sugar already forms one of the principal articles of export. Cotton is also an article of commerce, as is likewise coffee, but neither of them to a great amount. Their cocoa and chocolate have long been famous; the name of the latter being originally Mexican, but the best chocolate comes from Guatimala.
Vanilla, of the finest quality, is imported into Spain from Mexico. Sarsaparilla and jalap, which takes its name from the town of Xalapa, near which it is found, are celebrated articles of its export trade. Of tobacco, it does not grow enough for its own consumption, not owing to the soil, but to its culture being discouraged. The indigo from the Spanish colonies is raised chiefly in Guatimala. Odoriferous, gums, medicinal plants, and drugs; the dying woods, particularly logwood; the valuable woods used in making articles of furniture; are the produce of this Viceroyalty; which is as rich in the productions of the vegetable as of the mineral kingdom. Cochineal, and the plant on which the insect feeds and comes to maturity, are amongst the most singular of its products; they are principally managed by the Indians, who aremost skilful in the mode of collecting the harvests of this extraordinary dye.
The animals wild and domestic, are chiefly the horse, mules, of which thousands are employed in carrying goods over the crests of the mountains separating the two oceans, and in drawing the metals from the mines, &c., sheep, goats, and cattle; the cougar, or American tiger; the puma, the tiger-cat, loupcervier, wild-boar, swine, buffalo bison, tapir, marmadillo, and immense tribes of apes and monkeys, with birds of every variety and beauty, amongst which are wild and tame turkeys, ducks, domestic fowls, &c.
The insects are as numerous as singular, and the serpents and reptiles thrive under the vertical sun, and amid the humid exhalations of the low-lands. The alligator is found in its rivers and swamps, and is nearly as formidable as the Egyptian crocodile.
In the northern part of New Spain, horses, cattle, sheep and goats, are found in a state of nature, having multiplied to an extraordinary degree in the wide spread plains and Savannahs.
The silk-worm is reared in some of the provinces; but as the growing of silk would interfere with the commerce of the East Indian possessions of Spain, this article is not much attended to.
Honey and wax are procured in the greatest plenty, as may reasonably be imagined in a country abounding with aromatic herbs and flowers; wax forms a great article of its home consumption, which is the case in all Catholic countries, where such immense quantities of it are burnt in processions and the churches.
The pearl fisheries of the Californian Gulf, are not at present carried on with much activity, but pearls of great value have been found on its coasts.
In the description of the different provinces of this kingdom, we shall occasionally give more particular relations of the animal and vegetable productions of New Spain.
The gulf of Mexico, the bay of Honduras on the eastern side, the Pacific on the western, with the immense inlet or sea of California, afford to this rich and fertile viceroyalty the favourable opportunities for the most extensive commerce, were it not that it is greatly impeded by the want of numerous roads across the elevated land of the interior; these, however, are gradually opening; and in proportion as the Spaniards exert themselves in forming them, so will the commerce of Mexico increase in value above that of the neighbouring continental states, with whom, at present, it is, for this cause alone, unable to enter into competition. The distance in some parts of New Spain, from ocean to ocean is very inconsiderable; and some rivers which run from opposite sides of the same mountain approach so near, at their sources, to each other, as to offer to an enterprising people every facility for internal navigation; at present, the commerce of these colonies is tardily carried on from the coasts of the Pacific, to those of the Atlantic by means of mules, which travel in cavalcades along the roads crossing the chain, or by Indians carrying burdens on their backs.
The commerce of New Spain centres chiefly at the port of Acapulco in the Pacific, to which the vessels from Manilla bring the productions of the East Indies, which, with the commercial articles of the country itself, are transported over the mountains to Vera Cruz, the Atlantic port, from whence they proceed to the Havannah, and to Europe. We have related what the vegetable and animal kingdoms chiefly furnish towards this trade; it now remains to state the share which the mineral kingdom affords. New Spain is probably richer in productions of this nature than any other country of the world; but for want of the mechanical means which are so extensively employed in raising the metals of Europe, the produce of the Mexican mines, as well as of all those of the NewWorld, is not so great as has been usually imagined, many of the richest veins having been abandoned (after enormous expences and labour employed in opening them), on account of water gaining on the operations of the miners. That useful and surprising instrument the steam-engine, requires to be introduced generally into the mining system of the Americans, before any great accumulations of the precious and useful metals can be had on that continent; then also will the terrible labour of those unfortunate people, who carry on their backs, in baskets, from the depths of these heated caverns, the ores which are there discovered, to the surface, be discontinued; the human race will sensibly increase, and the sterile wastes and thick forests will give way to the arts of agriculture.
The mining stations of gold and silver in New Spain amount to more than 450. They are divided into thirty-seven districts, each governed by a council of the mines. Humboldt supposes that near three thousand actual mines exist in these 450 stations. The principal and most valuable are those of the provinces of Guanaxuato, Zacatecas, San Luis Potosi, Mexico, Guadalaxara, Durango, Sonora, Valladolid, Oaxaca, Puebla, Vera Cruz, and Old California. The veins exist mostly in primitive and transition rocks, and the richest silver veins, which are single, run to an amazing breadth and length; the poorest are those in which the silver is dispersed in small and numerous ramifications. The best and most productive of the silver mines of New Spain, are situated at a height of from 5900 to 9840 feet above the level of the sea, and there are three which supply more than half as much again as all the rest put together; these are the mines of Guanaxuato, Catorce, and Zacatecas. The quantity of silver exported from New Spain to Europe and India, per annum, is about one million six hundred and fifty thousandpounds in weight. After the three above mentioned, the mines of Real del Monte, Tasco, and Zimapan in Mexico; Guarisamez, Batopilas, and Parral in Durango; Bolaños in Guadalaxara; Sombrerete and Fresnillo in Zacatecas and Ramos in San Luis Potosi, are those which afford the greatest quantity of ore.
Gold is generally procured in the sands of torrents by washings. It is produced abundantly in Sonora, where it is found in the alluvious grounds; in the sands of Hiaqui and in Pimeria, where grains of very large size have been discovered. It is also procured from the mines of Oaxaca in veins, as well as in most of the silver mines, mixed with the silver, crystallized, in plates, &c. The produce of gold in New Spain is stated to amount, in the most favourable seasons, to a million of piastres, or 218,333l.sterling; the produce of silver at twenty-two millions of piastres, is 4,812,500l.sterling.
Native silver is sometimes found in great masses in the mines of Batopilas, as well as in some others.
The mines of Guanaxuato, of which the most celebrated is the one namedValenciana, are said to produce double the quantity of gold and silver to that of the celebrated Potosi in South America. In this mine the great vein is twenty-two feet in breadth; and, as the chasm is entirely dry, it is easier worked than almost any other American mine. The pits extend to the breadth of 4900 feet, and the lowest is 1640 feet in depth. The undertaking employs upwards of 900 men in carrying the ores to the surface up the stairs on their backs, 1800 workmen in procuring and sorting the ore, with 400 women and children, carrying the minerals to the sorters; the total expences of the materials, workmen, overseers, &c., is above 187,500l.sterling per annum, and the net profit, during the same period, to the proprietors, after deductions of thekingʼs fifth, and all expences, is from 82,500l.to 123,759l.per annum.
The mine of Sombrerete in Zacatecas yielded in one year a profit of above 833,400l.sterling to its proprietor. In San Luis Potosi, the mine of La Purissima Catorce yields annually to its owners a profit of upwards of 43,700l.sterling. The others we have mentioned, as being the richest, yield immense revenues to their holders and to the government.
In these rich mines the miners and labourers contrive occasionally to steal the valuable metals. They, however, undergo a very rigorous search on leaving the pit; nevertheless, like the Indians in the diamond mines of Golconda, they frequently are adroit enough to secrete the ores, notwithstanding many of them go nearly naked. The greater part of the silver is procured by the means of mercury from the ores, smelting being not much used for want of fuel: the quantity of mercury used in the process of amalgamation is estimated at upwards of two millions one hundred pounds troy weight.
Copper, of which the ancient Mexicans made their tools, is found both native and in the mines of Valladolid; as well as in those of New Mexico.
Tin is found in grains and in wood tin in the clayey soil of Guanaxuato and Zacatecas.
The quantity of these metals which is brought to market is very trifling, as they are not much sought after; as is also the case with iron, which exists in various parts of New Spain in great abundance, and under every form. Lead is chiefly found in New Leon, and New Santander; and in Mexico, antimony, zinc, and arsenic. Mercury is procured in Mexico and Guanaxuato, particularly at Chica, Celaya, and Zimapan: but the mines are insufficiently worked, the mercury for amalgamation coming entirely through Spain to the northern colonies of Spanish America. Coal existsin New Mexico; and salt is yielded from the lakes of the Mexican plains; diamonds, topazes, emeralds, and other gems; asphalt, amber, jasper, alabaster, and the magnet, are produced in New Spain. The affairs of the mining interest are directed by a council-general; on this council, which has a president, the thirty-seven districts depend. The mines are wholly the property of individuals; their councils are only erected to judge of the affairs relating to the payment of the duties, and to the general ordering of the undertakings. At Mexico there is a college of mining, where young men are educated by the government, to instruct them in all the branches of science necessary to be attained, in order that the mines may be worked in the best manner. The council-general receives a tithe on all metals, and with this, the salaries of the members, the expences of the college, and advances to undertakers, are paid.
Rivers.—New Spain does not contain such extensive and majestic rivers as are to be found in her sister colonies of the south; nevertheless some of the streams are by no means inconsiderable; theRio Bravo del Norte, and theRio Colorado, roll a vast body of water to the Atlantic and Pacific oceans. The Rio Bravo rises in the Sierra Verde, near the northern boundaries of the kingdom; this noble river, after various intricate windings, and watering a tract of country, inhabited principally by the aborigines, loses itself in the Gulf of Mexico, having performed a course of nearly two thousand miles; which immense length of river is obstructed by cataracts in the mountainous country of the interior, and by bars of sand in the flat and marshy lands towards the sea coast; canoes navigate, however, a surprising distance up the stream. The Rio Colorado rises in the same mountains, and nearly in the same latitude; but on the opposite side to the sourcesof the Rio del Norte, and running through a country either waste or inhabited only by the Indians, empties itself into the upper extremity of the Gulf of California, by a large estuary, after a course of a thousand miles; canoes navigate this river for three hundred miles from its mouth. The other rivers of New Spain which are of the greatest importance, are the Mexicana, Arighitas, Flores, Trinidad, Colorado de Texas, Medina or San Josef, Magdalena or Rio Guadalupe, the Nueces, the Gila near the Great Colorado, and almost equalling it in length; the Hiaqui, Mayo, Nasas, Rio Grande de St. Jago, Panuco, Zacatula, Yopez, Alvarado, Tula, or Moetesuema, with many others of smaller note, the names of which will be mentioned under the heads of the several provinces in which they are situated.
Lakes.—The lakes of New Spain are chiefly the lakes of Mexico, near which the capital is built. Lake Chapala in New Gallicia, a large sheet of water, the dimensions of which have not been accurately obtained; it contains several islands, in one of which, some of the insurgents who had been routed by the Spanish troops, shut themselves up. Also Lake Cayman in New Biscay, in a desert country, called the Bolson de Mapimi, not so large as that of Chapala; and lake Pascuaro near Valladolid. The lakes of this part of the American continent, are neither large nor very numerous; the whole country descending rapidly from the central Cordillera, towards the east and west, throws off the deposits which may commence from the springs, into the form of rivers.
The bays and coasts, cities, towns, &c. will be described in following the provincial relations.
The islands of Spanish North America, are described at the end of the First Part.
Temperature.—In order to give some notion of different regions inhabited by man in this extraordinarycountry, we shall adduce the temperatures of the coast and of the higher lands.
On the coast and at the foot of the mountains under the tropical sun, the heat is excessive, and the temperature of the air is as great as in the hottest of the West India islands. This is called the hot region; and above it is the temperate region which enjoys a perpetual spring, and a temperature of from 60° to 70° Fahrenheit, at an elevation of from 3930 to 4920 feet above the sea; they are, however subject to thick fogs, as it is the height at which clouds usually float in the atmosphere. Above this and to the height of 7200 feet, is the cold region, where the mean heat is 62° Fahrenheit; beyond which the cold becomes greater and greater till the region of perpetual snow commences, at the height in the 19° and 20° of north latitude of nearly 15,050, above the ocean.
Population.—The extent of the population of New Spain may be said to be about six millions and a half, of which the Indians are conjectured to amount to nearly three millions; the remainder consists of European Spaniards, Creoles, or people of Spanish extraction; Mestizoes, from the Spaniards and Indians; Mulattoes, from whites and negroes; Zambos, from negroes and Indians; negroes, and the aboriginal race, or Indians, which are totally unmixed, and are the descendants of the people who inhabited the country at the conquest. The European Spaniards hold the chief offices, civil, military and ecclesiastical; but the Creoles view with great jealousy this assumption of power, which causes these two casts to look with very little complacency on each other; and as, by the cultivation of their minds, they hold the first rank in the colony, it has been observed by a late Spanish writer, that the struggle which unfortunately exists against the mother country, has been materially favoured by the latter class. Humboldt relates, that the expression of “I am not a Spaniard, I am an American,” hadbeen frequently heard during the time he was on the continent.
The Europeans and Creoles, or whites, are computed to amount to 1,200,000; of whom, about 80,000 are European Spaniards.
The whites in New Spain possess the greatest property, both in the mines and the land; a descendant of Cortez, the Duke of Monteleone, a Neapolitan and non-resident, is amongst the richest who derive no advantage from mining operations; the whites are those who principally cultivate their minds, though instances of scientific attainments are not uncommon in the other classes. New Spain can boast of several learned men of Creolian birth, who have considerably advanced the arts and mathematical sciences in their country; many painters also of considerable talent exist in this portion of the New World. The manners and customs of the whites are nearly the same as those of their European brethren.
The religion is Roman Catholic, and the clergy of New Spain are a mixture of all the casts, excepting the negroes; the beneficed and dignified clergy, being chiefly whites; they consist of an archbishop of Mexico, and eight bishops of Puebla, Guadalaxara, Valladolid. Durango, Monterey, Oaxaca, Sonora, and Yucatan or Merida, with about 14,000 dignitaries, parish priests, missionaries, monks, lay brothers, and servants.
The revenues of the archbishop and bishops amount to about 118,000l., out of which the archbishop has 27,000l., per annum.
The negroes and slaves of New Spain form a very inconsiderable part of the population; of the negroes, there are only about 6000, and many of them are free; of slaves, about 10,000, who are negroes, and the Indians who are taken on the frontiers by the missionariesʼ troops; these slaves are to be found only at Vera Cruz, Acapulco, and on the coasts; employed in the ports, the culture ofsugar, indigo, &c. being almost entirely the work of the free people. The slaves are, with the exception of the Indian prisoners, treated mildly, and gain their freedom by amassing, if they are of an active turn, a small sum which they give to their owner, who is forced to emancipate them; this sum is from sixty to eighty pounds.
The mestizoes, mulattoes, zambos, and people of mixed blood, amount to about 2,400,000. The mestizoes, are represented as a mild and well conducted people, differing in hardly any thing from the whites.
The mulattoes have that revengeful disposition, versatility of conduct and voluble tongue, which they possess in all other quarters of the world.
The aboriginal race form a large section of the Mexican population; their number, as before stated, amounts to about three millions; they inhabit, chiefly the central and southern part of New Spain, and in these regions they are mostly to be found concentrated in towns and villages. Towards the north the Indians are, with the exception of a few, who have been converted by the missionaries, wandering tribes who subsist by the chace, and by the plunder of the Spanish settlers. The military stations are in constant activity against these people, they frequently capture numbers, who are sent to Mexico, as slaves. For the history of the migration of the Mexican race we must refer to the description of the province of Mexico, under which head will be found some interesting details of the principal events which have taken place in respect to these people, up to the period at which they were subjugated by the Spaniards.
The Indians of New Spain are of a copper colour, and in general well made, with very little beard, but long smooth, shining dark hair, prominent cheek bones, and thick lips. Their temperament is melancholic, and their physiognomy indicating a great share of moroseness, strangely intermingledwith gentleness. The Mexican Indians generally wear some hair on the upper lip, no doubt in imitation of the Spaniards; they are extremely fond of an intoxicating liquor, made of the juice of the agave, and those who addict themselves to this practice, by taking very little solid food, greatly weaken their constitutions; otherwise they are a robust race, and attain in general a healthy old age. They are in their common demeanour, silent and reserved, and appear to entertain for the Spaniards a constant sort of distrust. In the Indian towns and villages, few whites settle, and they are governed by magistrates, elected from their own tribes, who are represented to be more severe, and fond of punishing their brethren, than the Spaniards themselves. Very few of the Indians who are subject to Spanish power, are in any other situations than those of small cultivators, labourers, or artisans, and are a hard working people when urged by interested motives; otherwise they are idly disposed, as is the case with most people who live in a warm climate; they are however free, and receive for their labour, when employed in the mines or other work, very good wages. They are, in some instances, forced to supply a certain number of labourers for particular operations, but these are always paid.
The women are more lively, and of a less reserved disposition than the men, and are kept by them in a state of much subjection.
Carving on wood, and rough paintings, or rather designs, with the fabrication of pottery and cotton cloths, are the principal arts in which they excel, and they are represented as equalling the Chinese in their taste and ability in imitating objects of European workmanship. Flowers are a part of the household goods of the Mexican Indians; their shops for the display of fruit, &c. in Mexico, being completely lined with the most beautiful productionsof the flower garden, in which they take great delight.
The Indian tribes who inhabit the northern part of New Spain, are mostly free from the domination of the Spaniards; they are a warlike people, and are a more noble race than their subjugated brethren, carrying on a constant warfare against the settlers, and only trading with them, when in absolute want of some articles of finery, or nourishment. This trade never takes place personally; the Indian leaves his goods, at a stated place, and the Spaniard takes them, and deposits in return the articles the Indians are known to be in need of; this commerce is said to be carried on with a rectitude of principle highly honourable to both parties.