ALONG THE TRAIL.
"There was some difficulty in getting away, as Colonel Watson's horse insisted upon having a private dance just to show off his ability, and as the dance took place in the midst of the other horses, it made a disturbance until we could get out of the way. The example became contagious, and very soon some of the other horses joined in the dance, but we managed to quiet them all down without accident.
"We had been warned in the city that robbers occasionally interfered with visitors between Amecameca and Tlamacas, and if we could procure an escort it would be a wise precaution, and possibly save us from plunder or a fight. Colonel Watson brought a letter to the commander of theRurales, or Rural Guards, at Amecameca, and that gentleman kindly gave us an escort of four men to accompany us to Tlamacas and back, waiting there while we were making the ascent of the mountain. Quite possiblythese fellows had been brigands, and may have carried on business in this very place, but this was no affair of ours. They served us faithfully, and we were not interfered with in any way.
DWARF PINES AT A HIGH ELEVATION.
"That robberies have been committed, and murder too, was evident from the great number of crosses along the road. There is said to have been a time when a man known to have five dollars, or even one dollar, in his pocket was not safe along this route. There were men who were ready to commit murder for a trifling amount; anybody who wanted to be rid of the presence of another had only to mention it to one of this gentry, and accompany the mention with a suggestion that it would be worth five or ten dollars to have the obnoxious individual disappear. In a day or two he would be found dead by the way-side; a slight stir would be made by the police, but if no reward was offered for the murderer the affair was soon forgotten.
"At any rate, that is what the chief volcanero, who acted as our guide, told us, when we asked him about the crosses. But before we go out of Amecameca, or Ameca, as it is often called, let me say that it is a very pretty place, and reminded us of Interlachen or Meiringen, in Switzerland. It is 8000 feet above the level of the sea, lies in a sort of valley, and hasan abundant supply of water, which rolls down from the mountain and sparkles in numerous rivulets that flow through every street. The water serves to keep the streets clean, and the clean streets seem to have impelled the inhabitants to keep their houses in presentable condition; the walls are white or in bright colors, and altogether Amecameca is one of the most attractive little towns we have seen since we crossed the Rio Grande.
THE DOME OF POPOCATEPETL FROM TLAMACAS.
"There was a crowd of people in the Plaza Mayor, and in the market-place, and the people seemed to move around more actively than in the capital. Perhaps it was the greater purity of the air, though one mightthink that its increased rarity would have an enervating effect. Anyhow, it was cooler at Ameca than in the city, and that may have been the cause of it. Many persons predict that this little town at the foot of the great mountain will be a fashionable resort at no distant day, as it certainly has many attractive features.
"We had a ride of fifteen miles to the rancho of Tlamacas, where we were to spend the night. The pack-mules went off in advance, while we sat down to a good breakfast which the colonel had ordered in the Hotel Ferrocarril. Then we mounted our horses, and after the dance I have mentioned we got away.
"Our road led among fields of barley, the lines between them being shown by hedges of maguey or other members of the cactus family, and now and then by rows of poplar and willow trees. The way ascended with more or less steadiness, and after a time we passed from the cultivated ground into forests of pine and other mountain trees. Some parts of the lower hills were devoted to pastures, and the cattle in them were in good condition. They are nourished upon a rich bunch-grass that grows here; and scattered about here and there we saw a good many thistles, together with beds of mountain flowers. We passed a few haciendas, the last being that of Tomacoco, where there is a church very much in ruins.
MEXICAN SAW-MILL.
"The pine forest begins after we leave the plain, and as we go up among the hills the pines are reduced in size, as they always are on the sides of high mountains. Our horses have hard work toscramble up the steep path, but they are evidently accustomed to it and toil on bravely. The guide warns us to be very careful in case we dismount, as the horses have a trick of snatching their bridles out of one's hands and starting down the mountain at the best speed they can make. Fred's horse tried this and succeeded, but he didn't go far, as he was caught by one of the soldiers, who happened to be in the rear, where the path was narrow.
HACIENDA OF TOMACOCO.
"Do not suppose that the trees were small; some of them were two feet and more in diameter and seventy or eighty feet high, and the air was full of the sweet resinous odor for which a pine forest is famous and that is so welcome to most nostrils. For one, I do not know a more charming perfume than that of a forest of pines; and Fred agrees with me in this. It was difficult to realize that we were in Mexico. Had I been brought here blindfolded, and then asked to guess where we were, I should have named New England, Wisconsin, or California long before thinking of the land of the Aztecs. We passed several saw-mills of the most primitive character. They were operated by two men, one standing above the log and the other below it, and alternately pushing and pulling the saw. Thecutting was done by the downward stroke of the saw, as in the ordinary saw-mills of the Eastern States.
VOLCANEROS (MINERS).
"Higher and higher seemed the great mountain as we slowly zigzagged in his direction. Sometimes he was hidden from our view by the trees or the shape of the hills, and again he came suddenly before us and seemed to signal us to persevere. Up and up we went; and when we reached Tlamacas we were 13,000 feet above the sea, or more than 4000 feet above the town whence we set out in the forenoon.
"Our guide told us that there is a tradition among the Indians that Old Popo and the White Woman were once living beings. They were agiant and giantess, and for some disobedience of the gods they were changed into mountains. The giantess was struck dead, and that is why she lies stretched out on her bier and covered with a white robe; Old Popo was the giant, and he was merely rooted to the spot where he stood. He shows his grief by occasionally shedding tears of lava, which rolls down in great floods, and in the sobbing and sighing that form a part of his weeping he breathes huge volumes of smoke. Sometimes his grief is so great that he shakes in agony, and then the whole earth is moved. Evidently he doesn't feel as badly now as he used to, as he has behaved very well for three centuries and more.
"It was lucky we brought a supply of bedding and provisions, for there was absolutely nothing at Tlamacas except some huts of rough boards and stone. The rancho stands in a valley, and we descended quite a little distance before reaching it; this descent seemed to us a waste of labor, as we would be obliged to make up for it by another ascent.
"Several times during the day we met donkeys and mules laden with ice and sulphur, the two commodities which are produced by the great mountain. Ice is cut from the places where it accumulates. The city of Mexico has long been supplied from here, just as the cities at the base of Mount Etna are supplied from that famous volcano. It is packed upon mules or donkeys and carried to the railway or to the canal at Chalco, whence it is brought to its destination. The sulphur is taken from the crater, as we shall presently see, brought as far as the snow-line on the backs of men, or slid down the steep side of the mountain; and from there it goes to the railway on the backs of beasts of burden.
"Ice-machines in the city have somewhat interfered with the business of the Indians who bring ice from the mountain, and may possibly break it up altogether. The ice is like that from glaciers all the world over, and resembles snow more than it does the product of the New England lakes and rivers in the winter season. It is sold in the city asnieve(snow), and the boys who peddle ice-cream in the capital call out, 'Nieve! tome nieve!' as they go about with their wares.
"We managed to sleep fairly well in the huts at Tlamacas, and were tired enough to go to rest very early. From our supply of canned provisions we made up an excellent supper, and there was a material addition to it in the shape of some fresh chickens, which one of our muleteers had brought along just as a speculation. He argued to himself that we would be glad to buy chickens in addition to the stock of food we had on hand, and so we were. We gladly paid him double what the chickens would have cost at Amecameca. Mr. Arms suggested that possibly the chickenshad cost the man nothing, as they were probably taken from a chicken-house during the night while the legitimate owner was slumbering.
IN THE PINE REGION.
"The thermometer went down to forty-two degrees during the night, and when we started in the morning it was forty-seven degrees. The volcanero was to call us at five o'clock; and for fear he would not be aroundat that hour, Colonel Watson set an alarm clock, which he had stowed away in his hand-bag. The clock fired itself off at five and waked everybody, the volcanero included.
EL PICO DEL FRAILE.
"We shivered in the sharp air of the morning while taking coffee and biscuits for an early breakfast, and were mounted and off before six o'clock. Between us and the volcano there was a strip of pines and then astretch of black volcanic sand up to the snow-line. It was a hard struggle for our poor horses, and Fred and I wished to dismount and spare them the exertion; but the guide warned us to save all our strength for the climb that we would be compelled to make on foot, so we stuck to our saddles in spite of our sympathy for the suffering brutes.
"We had a magnificent view as we ascended, and Doctor Bronson, who went no farther than the snow-line, said he was amply paid for his fatigue, even though he was obliged to forego the view from the top. We looked down into the Valley of Puebla, we studied the landscape as though it were an out-spread map, and we watched the sunlight playing on the hills and on the great cone that dazzled before us. Many times Fred and I were reminded of our ascent of Fusiyama, but we found the scene far more grand and extensive. The summit of Fusiyama is nearly four thousand feet lower than that of Old Popo, and it can be readily understood that the monarch of Mexico far surpasses that of Japan in grandeur. Fusiyama, too, does not exhibit any valleys like those of Mexico and Puebla, deep set in the encircling mountains, and gemmed with lakes that flash in the clear sunlight. And, furthermore, it has no towering peak like that of Orizaba to pierce the horizon, and no masses of mountains at nearly all the points of compass to suggest that the earth was once a raging sea that had suddenly become petrified.
"We reached the side of a deep barranca, and descended to where a stream dashed along a rocky bed. Then we slowly climbed the other side of the barranca, and a little way above it we came to the limit of the trees. They did not dwindle to tiny dwarfs a foot or so in height, as we often find them on mountains, but stopped all at once while yet of respectable size, though much smaller than when we first entered the pine forest. Beyond the barranca we entered the worst of the volcanic sand, and our horses stopped repeatedly to take breath as they waded through it.
"In about two hours after leaving Tlamacas we came to a rocky ridge on which was a cross.
"'This is La Cruz,' said our guide, 'and here you must leave your horses. They can go no farther.'
"We dismounted. According to Humboldt's figures, we were 15,000 feet above the level of the sea, and 2500 below the summit of the volcano. We were 1000 feet higher than the summit of Fusiyama, nearly as high as that of Mont Blanc, and 9000 feet above that of Mount Washington, and yet we still had almost half a mile of perpendicular height to make before reaching our destination!
"There was a wide strip of sand between us and the snow-line, andthrough this we walked painfully, slipping and sliding backward almost as fast as we went on. Our progress was very slow, and the effort required was great. Fred and I were glad that Doctor Bronson did not try it, as he would have been sure to break down long before the snow-line was reached. Mr. Arms is spare and tall and a fine walker, and Colonel Watson is a small man, full of youthful vigor. It was fortunate that they were, and it was also fortunate that Fred and I had had experience in hill climbing, and then, too, we were younger than either of the others.
NOT A GOOD CLIMBER.
"When we reached the edge of the snow we sat down and rested. Some of the peons had fallen behind, and we prided ourselves that we had shown the Mexicans that Americans know how to climb high mountains without turning back for want of breath.
"We ate some of the solid food and drank some of the cold tea we had bottled expressly for the occasion before leaving Tlamacas. When we had thoroughly rested and refreshed ourselves we put on our spiked shoes, covered them with the woollen stockings, and, armed with alpenstocks and aided each by a volcanero, we attacked the great icy cone of the giant Popocatepetl. The volcaneros carried our overcoats and had them ready to wrap around us whenever we stopped.
"Fortunately for us, the snow was in the best condition for ascending; it was like a very hard drift, softened by the sun just enough to give a good foothold but not sufficiently to let our feet sink more than an inch or so below the surface. Our principal guide went ahead and we followed in his tracks; every few minutes we paused to rest and breathe, and long before we reached the crater the lightness of the air was such that our halts were longer than our periods of ascent.
"The blood rose to our faces, our veins throbbed, and for a time our heads seemed on the verge of bursting. We appreciated the advice of a gentleman in the capital, that no one with the least tendency to heart trouble, or one with weak lungs or a tendency to corpulence, should undertake the ascent of the volcano; and if we were to add anything to the advice, it would be that everybody else should refrain from making theattempt; it is the hardest venture we ever made in mountain climbing, and we certainly would not again undertake it or urge a friend to do so.
"We left to one side the Pico del Fraile, a pinnacle of porphyry that shoots up into the air like the spire of a church. There was a deep chasm like an enormous moat at the side of the Pico, and we asked our guide if anybody had ever passed the chasm and climbed to the dizzy top. His face wore a smile of incredulity as he pronounced the feat impossible, and furthermore said there was nothing there to pay for the effort. Colonel Watson asked him, in sheer bravado, if he would undertake to escort us there, but he shook his head without making any audible reply. It is quite possible that he suspected the colonel of 'chaffing.'
"Suddenly we were enveloped in a cloud so dense that we could see only a few yards in any direction. The guide ordered us to keep close together; and if by any accident we should become separated, we were to call out immediately, and also keep our faces and feet directed to the ascent of the mountain. We obeyed his instructions, but it was our good-fortune that the cloud did not long remain to trouble us. It disappeared as suddenly as it had come, and we had a fine view of the Valley of Puebla and of the great mountain, the White Woman. As we rose to and above its level it lost all resemblance to the recumbent figure that gives its name, and became nothing but a broken mass of rocks and snow-drifts."
"NO MOUNTAIN FOR ME!"
"The snow hardened a good deal as we neared the summit," continued Frank; "in fact it was much more like ice than snow, and the walking became more difficult every minute. In some places it was as smooth as glass, and but for our outside stockings and the spikes in our shoes we would have been constantly slipping. Even as it was we had a good many falls, but nobody was seriously hurt by them. There was no danger of a long slide down the mountain, as the guide took us along a route where there were many hummocks, or pillars of ice, so that we brought up against them whenever we had the misfortune to fall down.
"HURRAH FOR THE TOP!"
"Our woollen mittens were a great protection to our hands, which often came in contact with these pillars and would have been cut by them, as their tops and edges were sharp. We are told that persons who have made the ascent without gloves or mittenshave had their hands so badly lacerated that they could not be used for days afterwards.
"We had no serious accidents, which is not always the case with parties making the ascent of Old Popo. Sometimes the snow slides down in the form of avalanches, and occasionally the sand does the same thing. To be caught by one of these avalanches is almost certain death, but happily the guides know the mountain and its peculiarities so well that such accidents are rare. Parties have been overwhelmed by storms of hail in the same way that a party on Mont Blanc lost their lives several years ago. Considerable areas of sand and snow are sometimes set in motion by the tread of one's feet upon them, and the unfortunate climber who has caused it is carried down and dashed to death on the rocks below.
"One story that we heard was of three Indians who were descending the volcano. One of them saw a depression in the snow like a furrow, and thought it offered an easy footing. He went to it, and suddenly disappeared from the sight of his companions. As they moved towards the place to ascertain what had happened, they felt the crust sinking beneath them, and had barely time to scramble back before a considerable area disappeared in a crevasse. No trace of the missing Indian was ever found.
"It seemed as though our toil would never end, when suddenly Fred, who was in advance, gave a shout and sat down. He swung his hat in the air, and I wondered what he meant by it.
"'Here we are!' shouted Fred; 'we're at the crater.'
THE CRATER OF POPOCATEPETL.
"I hurried up as fast as I could, and sure enough there it was, a great chasm a thousand or more feet deep, and fully half a mile across. The sides narrow somewhat, so that a little way down you can make out pretty nearly all of the outline. The bottom of the crater can be called flat in a general way, though it is the farthest possible from the ideal of a ball-room floor. Steam and the vapors of sulphur rise from solfataras scattered over the bottom, and from these solfataras the sulphur is constantly forming. The supply is inexhaustible, as the formation goes, on a great deal faster than the miners can remove the product.
"We scrambled down perhaps 200 feet, to where the edge of the crater hung over like a precipice. Here there is amalacate, or apparatus for hoisting out the sulphur. The men working in the sulphur-mines descend and ascend by this apparatus; in fact there is no other way of getting in or out of the crater.
"Our guide told us that the men run great risks, as stones are constantly falling from the sides of the crater, whence they are dislodged by the frost and by the action of the steam and sulphur jets. Rumblingslike the premonitions of an earthquake are frequently heard, and sometimes the ground trembles so much as to make one's footing unsteady. In addition to this is the effect of the sulphur, which rots the clothes of the men, and causes their teeth to fall out. They sleep in caves in the sides of the crater, and on two or three occasions a caveful of men has beenoverwhelmed and killed by the stony avalanche. Altogether the place did not appear attractive as a residence, and I was not surprised to learn that the men receive high wages, and even at the rate of pay they are not easily obtained. They remain a month at a time in the crater without leaving it, and are then replaced by new men and allowed a vacation among their friends in the country at the base of the mountain.
BRINGING ICE FROM THE MOUNTAIN.
"We could have been lowered down by the malacate, but concluded not to make the attempt. We could not do so without spending the night in the crater, and this we were not prepared for; Doctor Bronson would be waiting for us, and would fear some accident had happened; though, as for that matter, we could have sent one of the peons to tell him; and furthermore, we thought we should run more risk than we would be compensated for by the experience. A party of three gentlemen went down there a few weeks before we did, and one of them became exhausted, and his life was saved with great difficulty. Our guide said, whether truthfully or not we don't know, that a German gentleman died there a few years ago, and since then the miners do not desire visitors among them.
"The crater is not at the top of the mountain, the highest point of Popocatepetl being to the west of this great chasm, and about 1000 feet more elevated. It is a sharp cone, and so difficult of ascent that few have succeeded in reaching the summit. There is some dispute as to whether it has actually been ascended, as the Government offers a reward of $500 to any one who proves that he has been to its top. Some American gentlemen in the capital city say it has been done, but the difficulty of officially proving the accomplishment of the feat would be more than the value of the reward. Hence it is not claimed at all; and consequently, the negative testimony favors the assumption that no one has yet scaled the height of Popocatepetl.
"We remained nearly two hours on the summit, shivering in the cold air in spite of our thick overcoats, while at the same time the heat of the sun scorched our faces. While we were there aborrasca, or storm, came on, and the air was suddenly darkened. We sought shelter beneath a projecting rock, and watched the cloud of snow as it eddied and whirled around the crater. At such times it becomes so dark in the crater that the men cannot work; they retire to their caves and wait till the storm is over. At the same time the fires of the solfataras become very distinct, and recall the description of Dante's Inferno.
"The storm lasted about twenty minutes and then cleared away, the sun coming out as brightly as ever and the air growing comparatively still. These storms are rarely of long duration, but they are to be dreadedwhenever they come; the temperature falls far below the freezing-point, and the wind blows a gale. But down in the crater it is warm enough, in consequence of the steam and heat from the solfataras. The snow melts as soon as it strikes the bottom, and renders walking a matter of difficulty.
"The story of our descent of the mountain is quickly told. The workmen had dug a straight trench in the volcanic sand, and it is down this trench that they send the sulphur by the simple force of gravity. It is placed in sacks, the sacks are piled on apetate, or mat of bulrush, and when once started the mat and its cargo slide down with great velocity.
"For two reals each of us hired a petate of one of the men at the hoisting-works, and with our volcaneros to guide the impromptu toboggans, we went down with great rapidity and ease and without accident. It reminded us of the descent of Vesuvius; the sand is much like that of the famous volcano of Naples, and we were very glad to be able to make use of it.
"I said we came without accident; for the sake of exactness I must add that Colonel Watson was pitched out of his vehicle at the end of his ride, and stopped with his head and shoulders buried in the sand. Fred had a similar experience, with the difference that he went in feet foremost; as neither suffered any injury, and was ready to laugh over the mishap, my original statement holds good.
PACK-TRAIN FROM TLAMACAS.
"The Doctor had gone back to the sulphur rancho at Tlamacas, and thither we followed him as soon as we found our horses. It was too late to get to Amecameca that evening, and so we had another night among the sulphur refiners. The sulphur is brought here just as it is dug from the crater of the volcano; it is refined at Tlamacas and made ready for market, and is sent thence to Amecameca on the backs of donkeys or mules. General Ochoa says that in spite of its abundance he cannot compete at the coast towns with the sulphur from Mediterranean ports, and his only market is in the interior of Mexico. He intends to place some improved machinery at the edge of the crater, so as to reduce the expense of hoisting out the crude material; and in this way he hopes to lower his price. His plan is to run his machinery by means of the jet of air from one of the large solfataras, which he estimates at twenty horse-power.
"While we were absent on the mountain General Ochoa's agent told Doctor Bronson the following story about how the general came to own the mountain:
"'Serious attention to the richness and abundance of sulphur in the crater of Popocatepetl was first called by Baron von Humboldt; the existence of sulphur in the crater was known long before, as the Spaniards seem to have made use of it in the time of the Conquest. In one of his letters to the Emperor Cortez says, "As for sulphur, I have already made mention to your Majesty of a mountain in this province from which smoke issues; out of it sulphur has been taken by a Spaniard, who descendedseventy or eighty fathoms, by means of a rope attached to his body below his arms; from which source we have been enabled to obtain sufficient supplies, although it is attended with danger." There is other evidence that the conquerors obtained sulphur from the mountain, but their methods were of the most primitive character.
AN IMPROVED REFINERY.
"'About the year 1850, an enterprising Mexican named Corchado visited the crater, and brought away samples of the sulphur, which he carried to Puebla. A company was formed, and a considerable amount of sulphur was taken out, but owing to lawsuits and political troubles, the enterprise was soon abandoned. When General Ochoa was a student in the mining section of the military college his tutor was a gentleman who had known Baron Humboldt, and was greatly impressed with his remarks about the value of the sulphur deposits in the volcano. Through this gentleman's advice the general applied to the Government for permission to work the deposits, and he obtained a concession that gave him control of the mountain down to the limit of vegetation. Afterwards he purchased the rancho of Tlamacas, and established a refinery there; he has spent a great deal Of time in the crater, and as he is an able geologist he has much to say about it that is interesting.'
"According to his theory, which is based on the lignite formed at the bottom of the crater, there has not been an eruption of Popo for seven thousand years; by that he means an eruption on a scale corresponding to the size of the mountain, and not an occasional disturbance, in which thecrater throws up a few discharges of stones and an unusual quantity of steam and sulphur vapors. In Prescott's 'History of the Conquest of Mexico' there is an account of an eruption in 1521, taken from a letter of Diego Ordaz, one of the captains under Cortez; but modern writers think that Ordaz mistook a violent thunder-storm on the summit of the volcano for an eruption. From what we saw at the crater we can readily believe that he made such a mistake.
LOOKING FROM THE TOP OF POPOCATEPETL.
"The view from the top of the mountain was the grandest we have ever taken, and one we will never forget while we live. The air is so clear that distance is strangely diminished; towns and villages that seem to lie at our feet are really many, many miles away, and as we looked tothe eastward our guide told us that the streak of silver bordering the horizon was the Gulf of Mexico. Mountain, valley, table-land, lakes, plain, forest, all were spread before us, and in the range of vision from the top of Popocatepetl an area of twenty thousand square miles is said to be included. On one side of the mountain you can look down into thetierra calienteof the coast region, while on the other the eye is lost among the mountains and table-lands that stretch away until lost in the limitless distance."
So ends Frank's account of their visit to the great mountain of Mexico.
A DANGEROUS PLACE.
The party returned to Amecameca, and determined to remain there a day or two to make some explorations in the vicinity, and also to rest from their fatigues. During their stay Fred found the following description of a visit to the crater of Popocatepetl by an artist, Mr. Frank Kellott, which he carefully copied into his note-book. We have obtained the youth's permission to copy the account, and it is certain to interest our readers.
"We followed a narrow foot-path," said Mr. Kellott, "until we reached a shelf, where we were seated in a skid and let down by a windlass 500 feet or so to a landing-place. From this we clambered down to asecond windlass and a second skid, which was the most fearful of all, because we were dangling about, without anything to steady ourselves, as we descended before the mouth of one of those yawning caverns which are calledrespiraderos, or 'breathing-holes' of the crater. They are so called from the fresh air and horrid sounds that continually issue from them. But we shut our eyes and clung to the rope as we whirled round and round in mid-air until we reached another landing-place about 500 feet lower. From this point we clambered down as best we could until we came among the men digging up cinders from which sulphur, in the form of brimstone, is made.
"We took no measurements while in the crater, and heights and distances can only be given approximately. We only know that all things are on a scale so vast that Old Pluto might here have forged new thunder-bolts, and Milton's Satan might have here found the material for his sulphurous bed. All was strange and wild and frightful.
"We crawled into several of the breathing-holes, but nothing was there except darkness visible. The sides and bottom were for the most part polished by the molten mass which had passed through them, and if it had not been for the ropes around our waists, we should have slipped and fallen we knew not whither. The stones we threw in were lost to sound unless they hit upon a projecting rock and fell from shelf to shelf. The deep darkness was fearful to contemplate. What must have been the effect when each one of these breathing-holes was vomiting up liquid fire and sulphur into the basin where we stood? How immeasurable must be the lake whose overflowings fill such a cavity as this!"
The region around the base of Popocatepetl seems to have been densely peopled at some remote period, if we may judge by the ruins that lie scattered about, by the numerous tombs on the hills and in the valleys, and by the great quantity of pottery brought to light by excavations. Some antiquarians who have made researches here think that the cradle of the human race is to be found in Mexico, and that the people of this region gave the arts and sciences to Egypt and the rest of the Old World.
This conundrum was a perplexing one for our young friends. They did not try to solve it, but contented themselves with investigations on their own account.
The first object of their attention was Monte Sacro, which is in the town of Amecameca. It is a volcanic hill about 300 feet high, and contains a grotto that was turned into a hermitage at the time of the Conquest. A church was built there and a cemetery laid out, and as the traditions of the old time became mingled with those of later days, theplace acquired great sanctity. It abounds in tombs, some of them very old, and there were strange figures upon many of these resting-places of the dead, which none of the party could decipher.
RUINS OF TLALMANALCO.
At Tlalmanalco, a few miles from Amecameca, there are the ruins of a convent which was begun in the time of Cortez, but was never finished. There are the fragments of walls, with a portico formed by five arches; these arches are supported by slender columns, which are covered with delicate carvings and suggest an Oriental character; they reminded our friends of what they had seen in temples in India, and Fred was so interested in them that he made a sketch of the ruins. According to M. Charnay, the carvings were executed by Indian artists, after designs furnished by the Spaniards. That the arches have stood so long is proof of the excellence of their construction.
BURIAL-GROUND OF TENENEPANCO.
All around this place great quantities of pottery have been unearthed. The story goes that thousands of vases and other precious things were found during the construction of the railway; they were divided among the contractors and are widely scattered, few, if any, of them ever having reached the National Museum.
VASES FOUND AT TENENEPANCO.
Quantities of so-called antiquities were offered to our friends, but they had been warned long before and did not purchase any. The "antiquities" are modern, and so great is the demand for them that a considerable number of people is employed in their manufacture. The dealers heighten the imposition by enjoining great caution on the part of the purchaser, lest the Government shall ascertain that he is in possession of the precious relic, and despoil him of it.
A few years ago an enterprising antiquarian spent several days inthe neighborhood of Tlamacas, on the very foot of Popocatepetl. Among other places, he examined the cemetery of Tenenepanco, which seems to have been of considerable extent; he opened a great many tombs, and found that the bodies had mostly been buried in a sitting posture, after the manner of many ancient people. A curious circumstance which he discovered was that while the bones were so decayed that they crumbled to dust on being touched, the brain was very often intact and well preserved. He attributed this condition to the high elevation and the peculiar salts in the soil; one brain in particular was in perfect condition, while all the skull was mouldered away. He was in some doubt at first, but an examination showed that there was no mistake; the two lobes were there, and the lines of the blood-vessels were distinctly traceable. The same chemical combination that destroyed the bones preserved the soft tissues of the body.
He took out a great number of vases, cups, marbles, necklaces, toy chariots, kitchen utensils, beads, caricatures of warriors, and many other things illustrating the life of the people who made them. Some of the cups were beautifully decorated, but unfortunately their exposure to the air caused the colors to fade. Ordinary utensils of earthen-ware were very soft when brought to light, and had to be handled with the greatest care, but they hardened by exposure and were solid enough after a few hours.
CARICATURE OF AN AZTEC WARRIOR.
The youths learned that one tribe of Indians was accustomed to worship the great volcano as a deity at the time of the Conquest, and the practice is still maintained. They have caves in the forest on the easterly side of the mountain, and once a year they go there to perform their worship; no stranger is allowed to accompany them, and any one who persists in following them runs the risk of his life. Some years ago, so the story runs, an inquisitive white man followed a party of these Indians into the forest, and was never seen again. What became of him is a mystery; the Indians claimed that they knew nothing of his fate, and there is no positive proof to the contrary.
Frank had an experience of the skill of the Mexican thief during his stay at Amecameca. He had dismounted from his horse in front of the Hotel Ferrocarril, and while he was busy arranging the stirrup on one side of the saddle, a thief crept up and stole the other one. He not only stole the stirrup but the strap that held it, and the youth was obliged to invest in another.
"I'm surprised you've had nothing of the kind before," said the proprietor of the hotel when he heard of the occurrence. "That was the work of aratero."
"What is a ratero?" Frank asked.
"He's a thief peculiar to this part of Mexico," was the reply, "or rather, I should say he belongs to the whole country, and the finest quality of him is produced around here. He will open and rob a trunk while carrying it on his back between the hotel and the railway-station; he will cut off the lining of a railway-carriage in less than two minutes, steal railway-ties, and anything else that he can lift; and as for ordinary thefts, his superior cannot be found anywhere. Several years ago the authorities of this town decided to light it with petroleum lamps, but the very first night they did so the lamps were stolen by the rateros, and the town was in darkness as it had been before."
Frank was able to add a few notes to what he and Fred had already ascertained about Mexican thieves. The youths discussed the subject, and came to the conclusion that the tropics produced more adroit pilferers than the temperate zones, at least such had been their experience.
"It is no wonder," said Fred, "that these people have become experts in stealing. Think how they have been despoiled by the Spaniards, who stole their country and all it contained, and reduced the people to the condition of a subject race. No wonder they have sought to revenge themselves on their conquerors, and their mildness of conduct is to be greatly admired, in view of what they have suffered. The condition of a Mexican peon is such that, if I may be permitted the paradoxical statement, he is obliged to steal in order to make an honest living."
Thus musing, they returned to the city with the Doctor and their late companions in the ascent of Popocatepetl.
ANCIENT AZTEC VASES.
WANTS A SOUVENIR.
The train by which our friends returned to the capital left Amecameca at 1.20 in the afternoon, and reached the San Lazero station at 4 o'clock. A crowd of cargadores swooped down on the baggage, and for a time threatened to disappear with it in as many directions as there were single pieces, but by dint of watchfulness and energy it was rescued and placed in charge of a runner from the hotel. The Morelos, or Interoceanic Railway, the one by which the party had travelled, is distinctively a Mexican line; it was built by Mexican capital, or capital borrowed by Mexicans, and the management is Mexican throughout. When finished it will be literally what its name implies, as it will connect the Atlantic Ocean at Vera Cruz with the Pacific at Acapulco. At the time our friends were in Mexico work was being pushed on the eastern division of the line (between Vera Cruz and the capital), and its managers were confident of completing it by the end of 1890 or 1891. At last accounts the completion of the western division (from the capital to Acapulco) was very much in the future.
It seemed to Frank and Fred that they had been away from the city for a month or two, when in reality they had been gone less than a week. The next morning they were out early to ascertain if any changes had taken place during their absence—whether any new buildings had been erected or old ones demolished, new streets opened, or new avenues laid out. They strolled through theportales, and stopped at the little shops established between the arches of the covered way that shelters the sidewalks from sun and rain, to bargain for old books and odds and ends of curiosities. Fred had received a letter from a friend at home asking him to pick up certain old books if they were to be found, and he made many inquiries for the volumes. One after another, he found them, and the search roused in him a fever for book-buying which did not abate until he had invested several dollars in antique specimens of the printer's art.
"How does it happen that so many old books are sold at these stalls in the portales?" he said to Doctor Bronson on his return to the hotel.