RUINS OF SAN LAZERO.
"It comes from the confiscation of the Church property," was the reply. "For three centuries the churches and monasteries had been gatheringa fine collection of books for their libraries, and the confiscation of ecclesiastical buildings under the Laws of the Reform threw the most of these libraries into the market. Some of them were bought for speculation and others for private use; in either case they were pretty sure to drift sooner or later into the hands of the dealers. Gentlemen familiar with the subject say that Mexico is to-day the best place in the world for a book-collector to find what he is looking for."
From the portales the youths extended their walk through several of the principal streets, and reached the hotel just in time for breakfast. On their way they passed a school just as the pupils were going in, and this circumstance gave a hint on which they acted at once.
ON THE WAY TO CHURCH.
They proceeded to collect information concerning the public schools, in addition to what they had already learned. They found that there were in the capital 101 free secular schools, with an aggregate attendance of 7400 pupils; then there were thirty-seven Protestant and twenty-four Catholic schools, all free—the former with 1300 pupils, and the latter with 4000. The Catholic schools are held in large buildings, as will be readilyseen from the number of pupils in the twenty-four schools; while the Protestant establishments are on a smaller scale. There are something more than 100 private schools for primary instruction, with an average of thirty pupils to each school. All the wealthy families have their children taught by private tutors or governesses, but the grade of their education is not high. The whole number of educational establishments in the city is a little short of 300, with an attendance in the aggregate of about 16,000.
MONKS AT THEIR MUSICAL EXERCISE.
Mention has already been made of the San Carlos Academy of Fine Arts, the Conservatory of Music, the Military Academy, and the Medical College. To these should be added the Law School and the preparatory schools and colleges of Architecture, Theology, Commerce, and Astronomy. Some of these have been founded by the Government in recent times, while others are descended from those established by the Catholic Church in its days of prosperity.
Of some twenty hospitals and asylums of different names and kinds, fully two-thirds are the successors of benevolent institutions founded by the Church. The oldest is the hospital of Jesus Nazareno, and was founded by Cortez; he left a large endowment for it, and the hospital is stillsupported by it in spite of many attempts by governments and individuals to break his will. The last effort in this direction was in 1885, when the will was sustained by the Mexican courts. The bad management of the hospital in its early days led to the founding of the San Hipolito hospital by Bernardo Alvarez in 1567. The pious people that joined him became a regular monastic order under the name of Brothers of Charity. The order was suppressed in 1820; the hospital fund passed into the hands of the municipality, and afterwards went to the general government. Since that time the city has managed the hospital, and provided the necessary funds for it.
A BELLE OF THE OPERA.
One of the theatres in the city (the Teatro Principal) owes its beginningto the necessity for money to support the Hospital Real, which was in the hands of the Brothers of Charity during the seventeenth century. The first theatre was in the hospital building, and the players were hired by the Brothers. Tradition says that the noise made by the performers and audiences seriously disturbed the sick, while the management of a theatre by a religious order caused a great scandal among pious people. The Brothers argued that, no matter what the origin of the money was, it was used for a good purpose, and they continued to enjoy the revenues of the theatre until the hospital was discontinued. The theatre, and with it part of the hospital, was burned one night in 1722, after the performance of "The Ruin and Burning of Jerusalem." The common people regarded the conflagration as a sign of heavenly disapproval, but the Brothers rebuilt immediately. A few years later they rebuilt again; and in 1752 they laid the foundation of the present theatre, and finished it in the following year. It has been changed so much since that time that very little now remains of the original edifice.
A STAGE BRIGAND.
The theatre is one of the institutions of Mexico, and liberally patronized. On this subject Frank wrote the following:
"The Teatro Principal is not what its name implies, as it is not the principal theatre at all. It may have been so when it was the only one, but it certainly has not been of much account in late years. The most fashionable theatre is the Nacional. Italian and French opera are given there, and the place is open for one thing or another pretty much the whole year. It is the fashion to have the commencement exercises of the military and other colleges in the Teatro Nacional, and since we came here there has been a grand concert in the building.
"We went to the opera one night. The performance was fairly good, but nothing remarkable, and we came away with the impression that the Mexicans go there more to see and be seen than to listen to the performance.The ladies were in full evening costume, and the men seemed to be about equally divided between dress-coats and double-breasted ones. There are boxes on two balconies and also around part of the parquet. The prices for seats and boxes vary according to the attraction, and the house is said to be generally well filled.
"Most of the men left their seats between the acts, some of them to smoke cigarettes in the lobby, and others to call on their lady friends in the boxes or send packages ofdulces(sweetmeats) to them. The pretty women in the boxes seemed to enjoy being stared at, if we could judge by the way they smiled when opera-glasses were aimed at them. Many of the men paid no attention to the performance, but constantly eyed the beauties, and eyed them with their lorgnettes instead of their natural organs of sight. They came back just before the curtain rose on each act, and then each man stood up and made a survey of the horizon of boxes, reminding us of the quartermaster of a ship at sea looking for a sail. They tell us that the Mexican belles feel slighted if they are not thus stared at, and there is a keen rivalry among them as to who shall be the recipient of the greatest amount of attention.
"We have been accustomed in other parts of the world," continued the youth, "to hear the voice of the prompter at the opera, but we were not prepared for it in an ordinary theatre where the performance was a play in dialogue and not a musical one. We went one night to the Hidalgo Theatre to see and hear a Mexican play. The prompter pronounced every sentence before the actor did, and it was heard all through the house. It completely spoiled the play for us, and we left before it was over. What we liked a good deal better was the arrangement of the office, where there were five or six ticket-sellers seated in a row behind a grating, so that there was no delay in getting places.
"They showed us a plan of the theatre in which the seats were marked by pegs in holes. We selected three places, paid our money, and then the ticket-seller drew out the pegs and handed them to us. The pegs were numbered to correspond with the places, and we handed them to the usher as checks for our seats. We found that we could buy seats for a single act or for two acts, or three, just as we liked, on the same plan as in some of the cities of Europe.
"In addition to the theatre and opera, the Mexicans inherit the Spanish love for the bull-fight. This form of sport has had its ups and downs in the capital. It was abolished in the federal district for some time, but was recently re-established or permitted, and now there are bull-rings at the northern end of the Paseo and in San Cosme. There is alwaysa large attendance, but it is chiefly of the lower classes of the population.
TIVOLI GARDEN, SAN COSME.
"We have seen a bull-fight, but it was not a real one. It was given at a marionette theatre, and was said to be an excellent representation of the actual performance. The figures were about four inches high, and operated by cords invisible to the audience. It was interesting and funny, and we had a good laugh while looking at it. During Lent this marionette theatre has exhibitions calledLos Processiones, in which long processions of various church dignitaries and characters are drawn slowly along a stage or walk extending the whole length of the room. At the time we saw the miniature bull-fight the walk had been removed, and the stage was at the end of the hall. The audience was of the lower class of natives, and we kept a good watch over our pockets.
"The real bull-fight was something we did not want to see, and we refused several invitations to witness it. It is a brutal, degrading sport,from our point of consideration; but probably the Spaniards and Mexicans would not agree with us.
TEASING THE BULL.
"Mr. Brocklehurst, the author of 'Mexico To-day,' says the bull-fight here is almost as attractive as in Spain, and the sporting men of Mexico have their preferences in regard to theganderias, the farms on which bulls are raised, just as the same class in England have their favorite stables for horses. The bulls are of proper age for fighting at from three to five years; they are reared as carefully as race-horses in other countries, and brought to the plaza during the night before the day on which they are to do battle.
"On their arrival they are shut in a dark pen, and when wanted for the fight they are driven from this pen, one by one, to thetoril, which opens into the arena. The ring is a great amphitheatre, without a roof, and the seatsal sol(on the sunny side) are only half the price of thoseal sombre(on the shady side). To the discredit of the people be it said, the seats are generally well filled to witness this cruel sport, and the great mass of the people seem to be more interested in it than in the choice of a President or the opening of a new railway.
"The performance begins with a procession of the fighters, and then the master of ceremonies asks the judge for the key of the toril, which is thrown to him. He then goes to the toril and lets in the bull, the band and all other persons not concerned in the fight having judiciously retired from the ring.
PICADORES.
"Thepicadores, or mounted men, are on miserable horses, whose eyes are bandaged so that they cannot see the bull; as the animal enters he looks around in astonishment at the horses and their riders, at thecapeadores, with their scarlet cloaks to attract the bull's attention, and at thebanderilleros,whose duty it is to stick darts in the animal to enrage him. Sometimes the darts have fire-crackers attached in addition to the long ribbons with which they are always ornamented.
THE MATADOR'S TRIUMPH.
"The most cruel part of the performance, and one which generally sickens the foreign spectator, is when the poor, broken-down, and blindfolded horses are gored by the maddened animal which has been brought into the ring only to be killed. The most interesting part of it is when, after killing several horses, and being worried for half an hour by his tormentors, the bull is turned over to thematador, who, after several feints and skilfully avoiding the charges of the animal, plants his sword up to the hilt between the bull's shoulders. The matador is a hero who is worshipped by the populace as much as is the champion base-ball player in the United States, or the jockey in England who wins the Derby. Once in a while a matador is killed by his four-footed adversary; an occurrence of this kind adds interest to the sport, though it may plunge the whole country into grief.
THE FINAL BLOW.
"Next to the matador, the men who run the greatest risk are the picadores, the fellows who fight on horseback. They are protected by leather armor, which impedes their movements, and when a horse is thrown down by the bull they often fall with him, and are unable to extricate themselves. When this occurs, the capeadores, who are also calledchulos, endeavor to draw away the bull's attention by waving their cloaks in front of him; the ruse generally succeeds, and the unfortunate picador is assistedout of his dangerous position as quickly as possible. Sometimes the bull will not be diverted from his attack on horse and rider, and it is in such cases that the picador may be gored, perhaps to death. If he is hurt but not killed, the spectators show their appreciation of his bravery by tossing silver dollars into the ring; and a wounded picador has been known to gather up a hatful of these welcome coins before retiring.
SCENES AT A BULL-FIGHT.
"A priest is always waiting in a room near the toril, in order to offer the last sacrament to any luckless combatant who may be fatally injured. When a bull is killed his body is dragged off by a team of richly ornamented mules; these mules form part of the procession that opens the performance, but they never seem to manifest any special pride in their work.
"We are told that the spectators are often wild with excitement over the incidents of a bull-fight; they smash the furniture and railings, and have been known to wreck a considerable portion of the wood-work of the ring in their fury. Sombreros by the dozen, of all kinds and values, are thrown into the arena, and a gentleman tells us he has seen hundreds ofspectators leaving the place bareheaded at the end of an exciting day. From four to six bulls are killed at a performance—four being the usual number—and ten or twelve horses.
A BULL-RING OF THE HIGHEST CLASS.
"That will do for the national sport of Mexico," concluded the youth; "it is only given because a description of the country would be incomplete without it. Doctor Bronson says that bull-fighting was originally a compromise with the Roman custom of gladiatorial combats, and furnished a substitute that met the desire of the populace to witness bloodshed. It was brought to Mexico by the Spaniards, partly as a reminiscence of their home country, and partly to take the place of the human sacrifices of the Aztecs. It has become a part of the life of the people, and the government that endeavors to suppress it would run the risk of being overturned."
A SCHOOL ON THE OLD MODEL.
From theatres and bull-fights the conversation naturally turned to the other amusements of the Mexicans. That the people are fond of gambling the youths had already learned, also that one of their sports was cock-fighting. Game-cocks are carefully trained for the work they areexpected to perform, and fights between them are of frequent occurrence. A traveller in Mexico tells how he once visited a school where each of the pupils had a game-cock, which he carried constantly with him, and during school hours the birds were supposed to be tied up so that they could not get at each other. The noonday recess was generally devoted to a battle between two of the feathered champions, and sometimes the teacher, who possessed several game-birds, joined in the sport with his pupils.
Cockpits are more numerous than bull-rings, for the reason that their construction is inexpensive. Only a few posts and a thatched roof are necessary. The birds are placed in the centre of a ring, and the excited spectators crowd as closely as possible to the ropes in order to witness the sport. Pretty nearly all the money in their possession changes hands during or at the end of the performance, and sometimes the peons are so warmed up to the business that they wager their hats, coats, and nearly all their garments, together with everything else they possess.
The religious observances of the country are closely mixed up with amusements, as the festivities established by the Church are almost invariably combined with entertainments in greater or less variety. In this respect they have their counterpart in the Christmas festivities of most Protestant countries.
"They can't have Christmas here as we do," Frank remarked to Fred, while they were discussing the subject.
"Why so?" Fred asked.
"Because," was the reply, "they have no chimneys, and consequently no way for Santa Claus to get into the house after the time-honored fashion."
"That's so," answered Fred; "but you may be sure they have their fun, and quite as much as we do. We'll look into that subject, and find out about it."
Fred investigated, and here is the result of his inquiries:
"The Mexicans have a longer Christmas than we do, as it begins on the 17th of December, and lasts until New Year's Day. During their Christmas they have an amusement called theposada, or inn; it is based upon occurrences of the time when Cæsar Augustus ordered the whole world to be taxed, and Joseph and Mary came to Judea from Galilee to be enrolled. Bethlehem was so filled with strangers that they wandered from inn to inn for nine days without finding accommodations, and then sought shelter in the stable in which Christ was born.
THE FIGURE OF JOSEPH (PROCESSION OF THE POSADA).
"In commemoration of the nine days of wandering, Mexican posadas last nine days. In many houses processions are formed, and the people of a family join in it, carrying tapers and singing litanies; figures of Joseph andMary are carried in front of each procession, and every door that is passed on the round is knocked upon in the effort to obtain shelter. The sound of the litanies is to be heard all over the city; court-yards and windows are hung with numerous lanterns, and all the public places are richly ornamented, and abound with pleasure-seekers.
"The principal sport of the posada is breaking thepinate, an earthen jar filled with dulces. The jar is richly decorated on the outside, and ornamented with ribbons of paper. The pinates are made in the shape of all known and many unknown birds and beasts, and also in the shape of dolls, some of them being of great size. Peddlers go about the streets with these things suspended from a pole, and the number sold at Christmas-time is very large.
"When the ceremonial procession is over the party goes to the patio, or to a large room of the house, and there the fun begins. A pinate is suspended from the ceiling, or from a cord stretched across the patio, and then one of the party, blindfolded and armed with a stick, sets about breaking the pinate; sometimes half a dozen are blindfolded at once, and then the fun is lively. When the pinate is broken the dulces fall to the floor, and everybody scrambles for them. Altogether, the game reminds us of blind-man's-buff and some of our other home sports.
"A good many people omit the religious part of the posada and come at once to the jug-breaking. In wealthy families posadas often cost many hundreds or even thousands of dollars; the ladies receive handsome and valuable presents, and the broken pinates have been known to yield showers of rings and gold coins, instead of the regulation sweetmeats. The affair concludes with a grand dance, and the participants do not reach home until a very late, or early, hour.
"All through the Christmas and New-year festivities there are grand balls, dinners, theatre parties, and the like; everybody indulges in festivity according to his means, and not infrequently beyond them; and when the affair is over, and the realities of life come again, the tradesmen who seek to collect their bills make the time doubly serious. In some parts of the country thepastorela, or pastoral, takes the place of the posada; the amusements are pretty much the same, the principal difference being that another incident of the nativity is taken as the ground-work of the ceremonial.
THE RAILWAY JUDAS.
"Another popular festival is on the last day of Holy Week, which is devoted to the death of Judas. Effigies of Judas abound everywhere; they are hung on trees and from windows, on lamp-posts, balconies—in fact, everywhere they can be made to hang. You see them on the frontof every locomotive on that day, and on many another vehicle; in fact, it would be easier to say where Judas is not than where he is. The figures are of all dimensions, but usually of life size. They are filled with fireworks of various sorts, so that they explode when a match is touched to them. If from any cause they do not explode, they are torn in pieces when they fall to the ground. In thus destroying them the people indicate their detestation of the betrayer of his Master. Not infrequently the figures that are hung from private houses have thirty silver dollars pasted upon them, as a reminder of the thirty pieces of silver which were the traitor's price. Of course there is a lively scramble for these coins when the Judas falls to the ground."
One of the volumes in which our young friends were interested during their stay in Mexico was "The Ancient Cities of the New World," by M. Charnay. The perusal of this book led them to wish to visit Tula, which is famous for having been a city of the Toltecs, and a flourishing place at the time of the Conquest.
Leaving the city of Mexico at half-past seven o'clock one morning by the Central Railway, they reached Tula at 9.40a.m.; the distance is about fifty miles, and the route is the same as already described, through the Nochistongo cut. The returning train at 4.40p.m. brought them back to the city at seven o'clock, and the trio unanimously voted that they had passed a most agreeable and instructive day. The heads of the youths were filled with archæology, and they felt themselves almost competent to write a history of the Toltecs and their migrations, in spite of the obscurity of many of the traditions about this remarkable people.
Instead of a history, they acted upon Doctor Bronson's suggestion, and contented themselves with an account of what they had seen, with a few supplementary notes by way of explanation. From this account we will make a few selections.
WARRIOR'S PROFILE, FOUND AT TULA.
"Tula now has a population of less than 2000," said Frank in his note-book; "but according to the histories, it was a rival of Tenochtitlan, the ancient name of the city of Mexico, at the time of the Conquest. The inhabitants were firm supporters of Cortez, and among the first people to accept the new religion and become his allies. Its ancient name was Tollan, which is said to mean 'the place of reeds,' and also 'the place of many people.' Cortez built a church there very soon after he conqueredthe place. There is a church now standing which was begun in 1553 and completed eight years later.
"It is one of the best built churches in Mexico; at any rate, one of the best that we have seen. Doctor Bronson thought it must have been intended as a fortress as well as a church, as the walls in some places are seven feet thick, and built in the most substantial manner. And it wasn't a small building either, as it is 192 feet long by 41 wide. The body of the church is more than 80 feet high, and it has a tower whose top is 125 feet from the ground. The architects that came with Cortez evidently understood how to erect substantial buildings.
CHURCH AND PART OF PLAZA AT TULA.
"Exactly how many inhabitants there were in Tula when Cortez came nobody seems to know; but it is certain, from the extent of the ruins, that the city covered a wide area. There is a small and not particularly clean river that winds through a plain around the base of Mount Coatepetl, andthe city stretched over this plain and was dominated by the mountain. Great quantities of sculpture have been found here in ploughing the fields or clearing the bed of the river, and explorers and antiquarians have done a great deal of work with profitable results. Some of the 'finds' have been taken to the museum in Mexico, some have gone out of the country, and a good many large pillars and pieces of statues remain in Tula to interest and instruct the visitor.
TOLTEC KING AND HIS THRONE.
"According to the historians, the Toltecs founded Tula, or Tollan, inthe year 648. We have told elsewhere how the discovery of pulque brought about the ruin of the nation, but whether this is really so or not the historians cannot say positively. At any rate, the ruins of Tula are of great antiquity, and as we walked and stood among them we tried to make a mental picture of what was to be seen here a thousand years ago.
RUINS OF A TOLTEC PALACE.
"We imagined that we saw a long line of soldiers, armed with spears, light javelins, bows and arrows, and also with clubs studded with copper or silver nails. They were protected by cotton tunics thickly quilted, that must have been very warm when the wearers were marching, but evidently made an excellent armor. They had leggings of the same material, and they had wadded capes over their shoulders, but kept their arms bare for greater facility in handling their weapons. We pictured their king wrapped in a thick mantle knotted across his breast, with his hands bare, and his feet protected by sandals. These sandals were held in place by a thong passing between the first and second toes—exactly after the style of the foot-gear worn by the Japanese at the present time. His headwas covered with a conical cap resembling that of the Persians, and his ears were ornamented with heavy rings that glistened through his long hair.
"At one side of the field where the soldiers are standing in battle-array we see some buildings which they tell us are storehouses where grain is laid away in times of abundance as a provision against a period of famine. This was a custom of the Toltecs, and on several occasions saved them from great suffering.
"One building which we cannot clearly make out is a tennis-court, so M. Charnay says, and if we have any doubt about it now we can be convinced, as one of the tennis-rings is still in place. Then there is a temple on the top of a hill, and the procession that is going towards the temple is in honor of a warrior who is receiving the honor of knighthood.
"You will be interested in learning that they had a regular system of knighthood here centuries before Columbus discovered America. Whena candidate was to be presented the knights accompanied him to the temple in a solemn procession. At the temple a priest pierced the cartilage of his nose with an eagle's claw, and then twigs were inserted in the wound to keep the flesh from uniting as the sore healed. He was clad in a coarse tunic, and then they painted him black all over, gave him one tortilla and a little water once a day to save him from starvation, and compelled him to lie on a mat on the cold ground. They allowed him to sleep only a few minutes at a time, and waked him by a prod with a thorn. Several times a day they sat down and feasted in front of him, called him every mean name their language contained, and heaped all sorts of insults upon him. They kept this up for sixty days; if he lost his temper at any time and 'talked back' at their insults, or asked for any of their food, the ceremony stopped and he wasn't made a knight.
"If he held out bravely and patiently to the end of the sixty days, he was then taken to the Temple again, and the whole order of the knights received him with high honors. His mean garments were removed from him by the oldest knight in the assemblage, and he was decorated with the insignia of the order and dressed in fine clothes. The use of the hole in his nose was now apparent, as the jewel that indicated his rank was hung there. The Apache and other south-western Indians occupy the country dwelt in by the Toltecs before their migration to Mexico. These Indians wear ornaments in their noses, and are supposed to have derived the custom from the ancient inhabitants.
THE PYRAMID OF THE SUN AT TULA.
"So much for the past. Let us see what there is here now. Here are the ruins of the Temple of the Sun, where the people worshipped that great luminary; they made offerings of fruits and flowers, and sometimes of birds, and, unlike the Aztecs, they did not indulge in human sacrifices. The temple is now only a heap of stones partly overgrown with trees, and it is said that a great deal of material was taken from it for building the houses of the Tula of to-day.
"We went from the temple to the ruins of the palace. These ruins were unearthed by M. Charnay, and cover a considerable area of ground. The guide who accompanied us was the same that aided the author of 'Ancient Cities of the New World,' and he pointed out the different rooms in the palace and their probable uses. One room, he said, was supposed to have been devoted to a sort of 'Happy Family' of wild and domestic animals, as it was the fashion of those times for every palace to have a menagerie attached to it. Then they had coops and cages for turkeys, ducks, and other fowls destined for the table, yards for goats and other domestic quadrupeds, tanks for fish, and chambers for reptiles and birds of prey.Servants' quarters were arranged very much as in modern palaces; and altogether the Toltec kings had a good deal of comfort about their residences.
PARTS OF A COLUMN, TULA.
"In the plaza we saw some broken columns, which appear to have been wrought with a great deal of skill and carefully mortised together. There was also the lower portion of a caryatid. Fred made a sketch of it with the guide standing at one side, so that you can see the proportions of the figure. Only the legs and feet remain, and they are more than seven feet high. Taking this height for a calculation, the head of the complete figure before it was broken must have been nearly twenty feet from the ground.
TOLTEC CARYATID, TULA.
"The Toltecs built their houses of uncut stone laid in mud, and covered with hard cement; this cement seems to have been of an excellent composition, as it is well preserved in spite of the centuries that have elapsed since the city was built. The floors are levelled with the same cement, and some of them are smooth enough for skating-rinks. The palace that we visited contains thirty or forty rooms, and there is a smaller palace in another part of the town which we did not see. One of the Toltec stone basins is used as a baptismal font for the church, and the ruins supplied much of the material of which the walls are composed.
"We dined fairly well at the Hotel de Diligencias, having taken the precaution to order the dinner as soon as we arrived. We allowed ourselves scant time for the meal, as we wished to utilize our stay as much as possible in seeing the sights of Tula. If we ever turn excavators of ruins, we will come to Tula and see what can be found. Our interest is somewhat stimulated by the story that an Indian boy once found a jar here containing 500 gold coins; he was ignorant of their value, and sold the entire lot for a few coppers. If you hear of our doing anything of this sort, please let us know."
On their return to the city Doctor Bronson found at the hotel a letter which contained an invitation to visit a sugar plantation in the State of Morelos; the invitation included the youths, and was accepted at once. Immediate acceptance was necessary, as the proprietor of the estate was to leave the city on the following morning, and wished the visitors to accompany him, and on their part they desired the pleasure and advantage of his company on the road.
The party took the morning train on the Interoceanic Railway, the line by which they went to Amecameca on their excursion to Popocatepetl.Their destination was Cuautla (pronounced Kwat-la) or Cuautla-Morelos, as it is officially designated.
"It was named in honor of the patriot Morelos," said Señor Domingo, the gentleman whose sugar estate our friends were going to visit.
"I have seen his name in the list of Mexicans who have made their names famous," replied Fred, "and must refresh my memory concerning him."
NATIVE HUT ON A SUGAR ESTATE.
"I will save you the trouble of consulting the histories," the gentleman answered, "by giving you a brief sketch of his life."
The youths bowed their acknowledgments of his courtesy as Señor Domingo continued:
"You doubtless know about the insurrection led by the priest Hidalgo, in 1810, which was the beginning of the War for Independence. Well, Morelos was one of the curates under Hidalgo, and when the insurrection began he joined in it, and raised a force of patriots to oppose the Spaniards and drive them from the country. He began with five negro slaves as the nucleus of his army, and soon had a following of several thousands.He was successful at first, and his defence of Cuautla was one of the most heroic affairs known in Mexican history.
"Morelos had taken his position in the town, and was attacked by the Spanish general Calleja, in February, 1812. He repulsed the attack, and then the Spaniards laid siege to the place. For more than two months the siege was kept up; provisions grew very scarce and the besieged were near the point of starvation. Rats sold for one dollar each, and a cat was worth five or six dollars. Lizards became valuable, and a fair-sized one was worth two dollars, and could not be readily obtained at that price."
"Was the patriot army forced to surrender?" Frank asked.
"No," was the reply, "it held out for sixty-two days, and then Morelos managed on a dark and rainy night to evacuate the place and retreat. He fought several other battles, but was finally captured. He was tried for treason, and condemned to death, and it is notable that his conviction was one of the last acts of the Inquisition in Mexico. Morelos was shot in December, 1815; his memory is preserved in the name of the State we are about to visit, and also in that of his native city, Valladolid, which is now called Morelia."
HENEQUIN PLANT.
"To be shot for treason seems to be the fate of the majority of Mexican leaders," one of the youths remarked.
"Yes," was the reply. "An intimate friend of Morelos, and one of his ablest officers, was the priest Matamoras. He was captured and shot by Iturbide, in 1814, and in revenge for his execution Morelos is said to have butchered 200 Spanish prisoners. And Iturbide, as you know, was disposed of in the same way, when he set foot on Mexican soil after his banishment. It may seem strange to you to see the portraits of Iturbide, Morelos, and Matamoras side by side in the public hall at Cuautla, and to know we revere them all as heroes; but it shows you the ups and downs of Mexican history better than anything else I know of."
The conversation just related occurred as the train was wending its way from Mexico to Amecameca. Beyond that town there were numerous curves in the railway line, and the youths were interested in studying the rapidly changing panorama as the train wound among the mountains in its descent from Ozumba to Cuautla. Before the ride was ended they declared that they had nowhere seen a more crooked railway, and expressed unfeigned admiration for the engineer that built it.
But their admiration was checked when Señor Domingo pointed out the scene of one of the most terribly fatal accidents known in the history of railway management.
FIGHT BETWEEN REGULARS AND INSURGENTS.
"This is the place," said he, as they reached the deep barranca of Malpais. "The railway was opened on the 18th of June, 1881, and there was an excursion from the city, with a grand banquet at Cuautla. President Diaz and nearly all the notable men of Mexico were on the excursion and banqueting party; in fact there was hardly any government left in the capital on that day. The banquet was given in an old convent, which had been converted into a railway-station, and a very good station it makes.
"There was a regiment of soldiers at Cuautla at the time, and just six days after the excursion and the opening of the line it was ordered to thecity. The soldiers were placed on platform cars, and several other cars loaded with barrels of aguardiente were attached to the train.
RAILWAY CROSSING A BARRANCA.
"It was dusk when the train started, and the night came on very dark and rainy. The soldiers broke open some of the barrels of the fiery liquid, and drank heavily to keep out the effects of the rain. The foundations of the bridge at this barranca had been badly built, and were made unsafe by a flood; when the train came along, the bridge gave way and the cars were thrown into the abyss. The barrels of aguardiente took fire, the cartridges in the belts of the soldiers exploded, the men who were not killed outright or stunned by the fall were crazy with drink and excitement, and shot and stabbed each other; many were swept away by the torrent, and altogether the accident was the most horrible ever known upon a railway, so far as I have read or heard. More than three hundred lives were lost, and many persons think the real number was not much below five hundred."
A PRODUCT OF CUAUTLA.
Frank and Fred shuddered as they looked from the windows of thecar into the deep barranca, where the stream was rushing along in its wild fury. The fallen train, inky darkness, the tropical storm, men crazed with drunkenness, burning aguardiente, exploding cartridges, knives, bayonets, and loaded rifles combined to make a picture terrible to contemplate.
TRAVELLERS RESTING.
The change from the Valley of Mexico to the warm country south of the encircling mountains is very perceptible in the distance between Ozumba and Cuautla, and more so where the line continues to Yautepec, fifteen miles farther on. Cuautla is eighty-five miles from Mexico City, and before the railway was opened it was very difficult of access.
The railway, as before stated, is entirely Mexican in character; it is a narrow-gauge line, and owes its existence to the owners of the sugar estates in the region of which Cuautla and Yautepec are the commercial centres. Through the political influence of these men a Government concession and subsidy were obtained, with extra subventions for speedy constructions. To the insecure character of the work, owing to the speed with which the line was built, may be attributed the accident at the Malpais barranca.
Cuautla has about 12,000 inhabitants, and is 3500 feet above the level of the sea; the rapidity of the descent of the railway will be realized when it is remembered that Amecameca is nearly 5000 feet higher up in the air, and less than fifty miles away. That the region is tropical a glance from the car windows as the station is approached will readily show.
Cuautla contains a very good and venerable church, and a well-built town-hall; the alameda is pretty, and when these have been seen the stranger has practically finished with the place. Señor Domingo did not allow our friends an opportunity to inspect the town, as his carriage was waiting at the station and they were off in a few minutes. They did not see the sights of Cuautla until their return.