THE "PORTALES," OR COVERED WALKS.
The plateau terminates suddenly at Boca del Monte, and here begins the descent of thecumbres. At Esperanza the train exchanged the ordinary locomotive for a monster one of great power; it looked like two locomotives placed end to end with a tender between them, and was specially built to take the trains over the extraordinary grades on this part of the road. High speed was out of the question, or at all events dangerous, and in descending the slope the train moved not faster than fifteen miles an hour. The schedule time of the ascent is twelve miles an hour, and the Brobdingnagian locomotive is taxed to the utmost of its ability.
MAP OF RAILWAY BETWEEN CITY OF MEXICO AND VERA CRUZ.
Frank learned from one of the officials of the road that there are no fewer than 148 bridges between Vera Cruz and Mexico, and on the branch to Puebla. These bridges are of various lengths, the longest being the Puente de Soledad, which measures 742 feet. The longest of the tunnels is 350 feet, and there are fifteen tunnels in all.
"Nowhere else in the world," wrote Frank, "have we seen finer engineering work than on this railway. It reminded us of the railway fromBombay to Poonah in India, the line from Colombo to Kandy in Ceylon, and the Saint Gothard and Semmering railways in the Alps. We looked down from dizzy heights where the train would have been ground to atoms had it rolled from the track into the abysses below; we crept along the edges of precipices, or in niches cut in perpendicular walls of rock; we crossed deep chasms upon slender bridges; we darted into tunnels in rapid succession, and swept around curves so sharp that it seemed as though the brakeman on the rear of the train might have shaken hands with the engine-driver. We looked into the beautiful Valley of Maltrata, which lay spread far below us, a gem of floral and arboreal beauty among the rugged hills; and we wound and turned among the sinuosities of the track so that our locomotive faced to all points of the compass a dozen times over in a single hour. In a direct distance of two and a half miles, as the bird flies, the railway goestwenty miles; looking down, we saw the track far beneath our level, and looking up we could trace its zigzags along the slopes and precipices. It was the railway passage of the Alps, the Caucasus, the Sierra Nevadas, the Indian Ghauts, and the Blue Mountains of Australia all in one.
DOUBLE-ENDER LOCOMOTIVE ON MEXICAN RAILWAY.
"We stopped a few minutes at the station of Maltrata, which is on an artificial platform that was built up from the slope; it was originally intended as a passing-point for the up and down trains, and for several years after the completion of the line the daily trains each way met at Maltrata. From this point onward the descent was as rapid as before; the locomotive held the train back instead of pulling it, and the brakes kept up a continual grinding against the wheels. We shuddered to think what would have been the result if the brakes had given way and the locomotive failed to restrain us. But in such an event our agony would have been brief, as the whole business would have been ended in a few minutes. They told us that once when a freight train was climbing the mountain two of the rear wagons became detached and started down the slope. Fortunately there was no one on these wagons to lose his life; they jumped the track at one of the curves, and were dashed a thousand feet or more down a steep hill-side into a rocky valley.
"A little distance below Maltrata we skirted one side of the Barranca del Infernillo, a great chasm which made our heads swim as we looked into it. Twelve miles from Maltrata we reached Orizaba, where we had arranged to spend a day, and therefore we left the train as it drew up at the station.
"We observed a change in the vegetation as we descended the slope; we had left thetierra friabehind us, and were now in thetierra templada, or temperate region. The maguey and cactus gave way to darker and richer verdure, which was certainly far more pleasing to the eye than the scanty vegetation of the great plateau. Orizaba is 4000 feet above sea-level, 181 miles from the capital of the republic, and eighty-two from Vera Cruz. It has 20,000 inhabitants, and is a favorite resort of the people of Vera Cruz in the hot and sickly season.
"We expected to have a fine view of the peak of Orizaba from the town of the same name; but in this we were disappointed, as there is no part of the great volcano visible from here, except a thin strip of white over the top of a nearer and lower mountain; even this strip cannot be seen from all parts of the town, but only by climbing to the roof of the hotel or the tower of one of the churches.
"Doctor Bronson asked if we wished to ascend the peak of Orizaba; we gave a prompt negative to his question, partly for the reason that hisplans would not permit us to stay here long enough, and partly because the sensation was pretty well exhausted at Popocatepetl. The ascent is quite as difficult as that of Old Popo; Orizaba is a beautiful peak, shaped like a sugar-loaf, and wearing constantly a mantle of purest snow upon its regular and beautiful cone. According to Humboldt, it is 17,378 feet high; a party of American officers ascended it in 1848; three years later a Frenchman named Doignon followed their example, and found the flagstaff they left there, with the torn fragments of the American flag which marked their visit.
"There was a town here at the time of the Conquest, and Cortez left a small garrison to hold it when he pushed on to Mexico. It has an agreeable climate, the frequent rains and the mists from the Gulf keeping it well moistened, so that the trees, plants, and green things generally are in a high state of luxuriance. Coffee and tobacco are grown here in large quantities. The town has quite a manufacturing industry, and contains the repair and construction shops of the railway company. We greatly enjoyed a stroll through the streets, which seemed rather dull and sleepyafter those of the capital. Most of the houses are covered with red tiles, which give the city a very picturesque appearance when it is looked upon from the heights surrounding it. Like all old towns of Mexico, it has an abundant supply of churches, and the inhabitants are mostly of the Catholic faith. Not many years ago it was unsafe for a Protestant woman to appear on the streets wearing a hat or bonnet of foreign make; she was liable to be pelted with mud and stones, and her life was by no means out of danger. A milder feeling prevails at present, and the old bigotry is steadily passing away.
VIEW OF ORIZABA.
"We made a pleasant excursion in the environs of the city, which are very attractive, owing to the luxuriance of the vegetation. Fields of coffee, tobacco, sugar-cane, oranges, and bananas alternate with each other and show the mildness of the climate of Orizaba; some of the plantations are of great extent, and we received many invitations to make a leisurely visit and spend whatever time we liked in their examination.
"One of the sights of the place which we were told not to omit were the falls of the Rincon Grande, about three miles from the city. We didnot omit the falls, and will always hold them in pleasant recollection. The Rio de Agua Blanco, which supplied the water for the falls, is a deep and swift stream coming from the mountains to the eastward of Orizaba. Much of its course is through a deep cañon; but where the falls begin, a part of the river flows along the surface of the mesa which forms one side of the ravine, and breaks over the side to join the main stream below.
"The fall is perhaps fifty feet from top to bottom, and a cloud of mist rises like that from Niagara or Montmorency. Both sides of the fall are bordered with a luxuriance of tropical verdure, rendered especially luxuriant by the moisture from the plunging waters. The trees are covered with bunches of Spanish moss, some of them several feet in length,and by numerous parasitical plants, nearly all gaudy with flowers. Some of the trees are so completely in the grasp of the parasites that hardly anything of the original trunk or limbs can be seen. They showed us one tree that had been killed by the parasites; the wood had decayed and crumbled, and the vines were so thick where it had stood that they remained erect as though unaware that their former support had passed away.
"We saw the falls from above and also from below; and while both views were interesting, each had an especial beauty of its own. The shrubbery was so dense that we could walk only in the paths that had been cut for the purpose; and the growth of vegetation is so rapid that these paths require to be trimmed out several times a year. There is no possibility of straying from the path, for the simple reason that it is impossible to proceed in the dense undergrowth except by the aid of amachete. Though at an elevation of 4000 feet above the sea, Orizaba has a tropical climate; its location places it in thetierra templada, but its temperature and characteristics would seem to include it in thetierra caliente. And not only its temperature but its mosquitoes give it a tropical character, as they are of the kind with which the traveller in equatorial regions has a disagreeable familiarity.
THE RIVER AT ORIZABA.
"There's a pretty river flowing through Orizaba, and it is useful to the inhabitants in many ways. When we saw it there was not much water in its bed, but they tell us that at some periods it is a rushing torrent of great force and volume. It turns several mills, and is the resort of the women whose duty it is to cleanse the soiled linen of the rest of the inhabitants. Laundry-work here is about as it is in the rest of Mexico, and the rough handling of shirts and other garments by the lavanderas converts them into rags in a very short time. This is good for the cotton-factories of Orizaba, which turn out a fair quality of goods, but are said to be unprofitable for their owners. We have better reports of the flouring-mills here, and also of a paper-mill which was established by an American several years ago. As the Mexicans become better educated the demand for paper is likely to increase; at present it does not take a large number of mills to supply their wants in this respect.
HILL OF EL BORREGO.
"The people of this city are less eager to point out the hill of El Borrego than are the Pueblans to indicate the scene of the battle ofCinco de Mayo. The latter was a Mexican victory, while the battle of Borrego was a disastrous defeat. Four or five thousand Mexicans were surprised and put to flight by a few hundred French troops. The French say there were not over one hundred in the attacking party. It was anight surprise, and the French had all the advantages of a nocturnal assault. In justice to the Mexicans it should be added that the assailants were old soldiers, while the surprised army was composed of raw recruits, who are proverbially easy to throw into a panic, especially in the darkness. The same troops made a good record for themselves later in the war."
From Orizaba our friends continued their railway journey into thetierra caliente, passing Fortin and Cordoba, the latter the centre of a coffee-growing district of considerable importance. A German gentleman who had a coffee estate near Cordoba was in the carriage with Doctor Bronson and the youths, and gave them some account of the industry;Fred made notes of his remarks, and afterwards wrote them out in full, with the following result:
"Cordoba is less important now than it has been, owing to the decline in the prices of sugar and coffee; it was founded in the early part of the seventeenth century, and for a long time its industries were the growing of sugar-cane and tobacco. Coffee is a comparatively recent introduction; we produce annually in the Cordoba district about 10,000,000 pounds of coffee, and five times as much tobacco, and our coffee and tobacco have a high reputation in the market. Coffee grows in the lower regions of Mexico, and up to elevations of four, or even five, thousand feet; the best site for a plantation is about 3000 feet above sea-level; but it must be remembered that the coffee-tree requires a great deal of moisture, and unless a region is warm and wet it will not answer for a successful experiment."
ORANGE GROVE IN CORDOBA.
Frank asked how soon after a plantation was started the trees would begin to bear.
The gentleman replied that he had seen coffee-trees bearing two years after they were planted, and it was very common to gather fair crops fromtrees three years old. But they could not be relied upon for a profitable yield until they were four or five years old, and they continue to bear for twenty years. When a plantation is five years old it does not cost much to keep it up, but before that time it is a heavy outlay, with little or slight return.
COFFEE-DRYING.
"You may grow tobacco or bananas between the young coffee-trees when you set them out," he continued, "and the profit from these products will cover a part of your expenses. In fact you should set out enough bananas or plantains to shelter the young plants, which are liable to be injured by the sun and rain and wind in their infancy. The coffee-tree would grow to a height of twenty or twenty-five feet if we permitted it to do so; we cut it off about six feet from the ground, and thus force thevigor into the branches; we want it low enough to pick from without too much reaching or climbing, and this would not be the case if we allowed the tree to run up as it would naturally."
Then he gave the youths an account of the harvesting of the crop, and its preparation for market, but as this has already been described elsewhere[5]Fred did not make a record of it. The culture of coffee is pretty nearly the same all the world over wherever the plant is grown.
The conversation with the coffee-grower had not prevented our friends from observing the scenery which lies between Orizaba and Cordoba along the line of the railway. They were especially impressed with the engineering which was required for crossing the barranca of Metlac; this barranca is about 200 feet deep, by twice that width, and the first thought of the engineers was to throw a bridge directly across it. A bridge of a single span of 400 feet would be very costly, and piers 200 feet in height to support a lighter structure could not be built without great expense. Consequently the plan was adopted of descending to where the barranca is less wide and high before attempting to span it.
"The bridge," wrote Frank, "is on eight piers of iron, resting on masonry, and it curves in its course from one side of the barranca to the other on a radius of 325 feet. It is 400 feet long and 92 feet high; the railway is cut into the slope of the barranca on each side, and as it nears the bridge it enters a tunnel that curves so as to give the necessary approach. The incline of the railway on each side of the barranca is about three feet in a hundred, and for quite a distance the opposite tracks are almost parallel to each other. The sides of the barranca are covered with a dense growth of tropical trees and underbrush, and the picture it presents is very attractive to the traveller, however disheartening it may have been to the men who planned the railway. Many a railway engineer in Mexico has regretted that barrancas were ever invented, and, on the other hand, has congratulated himself that their number is no larger than it is."
BRIDGE OF ATTOYAC.
From Cordoba to Paso del Macho the fine scenery continued, the train winding among hills and mountains, disappearing into tunnels, crossing deep valleys upon graceful bridges, and steadily unfolding a panorama of great beauty. Frank made note of the bridge of Attoyac, 330 feet long; the Chiquihuite bridge, 220 feet long; and that of San Alego, three miles before reaching Paso del Macho, which is 318 feet long. In twenty miles there was a descent of 1200 feet, and the scenery steadily assumed more and more a tropical aspect.
But beyond Paso del Macho the country changed again and grew sterile, as though they were once more in the region of thetierra fria.
"How is this?" queried Fred. "Here we are coming all the time nearer the sea both in elevation and distance; I thought we should have it a perfect forest of tropical growths all the way to Vera Cruz."
IN TIERRA CALIENTE.
"Those who have studied the subject," answered the Doctor, "say that this strip of land along the coast is not touched by the moist vapors which blow inland from the sea. They are attracted by the mountains and highlands, and blow over this region to shed their moisture at a greater elevation."
Evidently the youths were disappointed, but they consoled themselves with the reflection that they were not intending to settle in the country, and therefore it didn't matter much to them what it was. Paso del Macho is about 1500 feet above sea-level, and forty-seven miles from Vera Cruz. The slope of the land from here onward is regular, and no unusual engineering skill was required for the construction of the railway. Fred noted the names of four stations, Camaron, Soledad, Purga, and Tejeria, beforethey reached Vera Cruz; but there was nothing attractive about any of those places to render them worthy of further record. Historically, Soledad is memorable as the scene of the convention between generals Primand Doblado in 1862, which led to the occupation of the country by the French troops and the invitation to Maximilian to become Emperor of Mexico. Fred asked if there was any monument at Soledad to commemorate the event, and was not at all surprised at receiving a negative answer.
VERA CRUZ, LOOKING SEAWARD.
Night had fallen when they rolled into the station at Vera Cruz. Fred watched for the fortifications, of which he had read so much, and was disappointed to learn that they had followed the fate of the walls of most European cities and been levelled out of existence. Modern artillery has rendered all defences of this kind of no value for military purposes, and it is an act of common-sense to destroy them and make practical use of the ground they occupy.
The air was close and warm and offered no inducements for a stroll. By the time our friends had located themselves at the Hotel de Diligencias, which was said to be the principal one, and partaken of a not very appetizing supper, they had more thoughts of bed than of anything else.
Next morning the youths were out in good season for the local sights. The first objects of interest were thezopilotes, or vultures, that act as a street-cleaning bureau, in taking possession of everything edible (from their point of view) in the refuse of the streets. Frank and Fred had seen these birds before on many occasions, but never in such numbers; they are analogous to the turkey-buzzards of the Southern States of North America, and are said to be scientifically of the genusCathartes. They roosted on the house-tops, and walked through the streets, constantly on the lookout for something in their line. They are protected by law, and are faithful scavengers, working without pay other than board and lodging. They lodge in the open air, and board upon what no other living creature would eat, so that they are inexpensive luxuries. They have never been charged, like street-cleaning bureaus elsewhere, with obtaining money under fraudulent contracts.
"The streets were quiet," wrote Fred, "and we were not surprised to learn that the population of Vera Cruz is under 20,000 and not particularly prosperous, although for a long time nine-tenths of the foreign commerce of the country passed through this port. Since the railways from the United States were opened to the capital the trade of the city has greatly declined. Most of the business is in the hands of foreigners, so that the chief connection a Mexican has with it is to handle the goods as they are transferred from ship to railway or warehouse. The streets are straight and mostly narrow, and the open drains require to be constantly flushed, to keep down the stenches and unhealthy miasmas. Inthe sickly season the drains are nightly supplied with disinfectants to keep off that dreaded scourge thevomito, or yellow-fever.
AFTER THE VOMITO.
"We had heard much of the unhealthiness of Vera Cruz, and particularly of the vomito, which sometimes carries off hundreds of victims in a single week, and makes the road to the cemetery the best travelled one in the whole city. Forty or fifty deaths a day are by no means uncommon; the old inhabitants do not seem to mind it, as they claim that a person who has once had the fever is ever after safe from it. A few years ago Dr. Trowbridge, the American Consul, was removed from the office which he had held for twelve years; his successor arrived during the prevalence of yellow-fever, and died on the thirteenth day of his occupation of his new place. Dr. Trowbridge and his family had the fever lightly when they first arrived, and never afterwards suffered from it.
"They tell us that yellow-fever is most dangerous in summer months, and least so in the winter. It is not advisable for a stranger to come here in the sickly season, and so well is this recognized that the betting men of Vera Cruz are said to make wagers as to the probable length of life of a visitor from Europe or North America when the vomito is prevalent. A Yankee whom we met up-country says that when he came to Vera Cruz a polite individual called upon him at the hotel and solicited his patronage, 'which he was sure to need.' He did not feel very comfortable on learning that the polite man was an undertaker, and fled from the city by first train. It used to be said that a life insurance policy was vitiated if the holder remained more than twenty-four hours at Vera Cruz.
"Yellow-fever is as dangerous for the Mexican from the table-lands as it is to the North American, and some authorities say that the stranger from over the sea is less liable to it than the Mexican from thetierra fria. It begins in May, is worst in August and September, and then declines to December, when it practically disappears under the influence of the strong 'northers' that blow during the autumn equinox. Were it not for these northers Vera Cruz would be altogether too unhealthy for human habitation."
The walk of our young friends took them to the Alameda, which proved unusually attractive, as it was filled with tropical plants and trees to which their eyes had not been accustomed in the upland region. They welcomed the palm-trees as old friends; the palm does not flourish in Mexico at a greater elevation than 1500 feet above the level of the sea excepting under peculiarly favorable circumstances. The palms of Vera Cruz are finely developed, but they do not attain the size of those at Medellin, twelve miles down the coast. Medellin is a summer resort of the Veracruzanos; they go there for recreation during the hot season, or at least such of them as cannot afford the longer journey to Orizaba and the mountain regions.
Many of the trees and bushes in the Alameda were bright with flowers. As if there were not enough floral products growing in sight, several flower-sellers came around with their wares, which they persistently offered to the visitors. Frank asked for thepalo de leche, but the flower-sellersdid not have it, though one enterprising dealer endeavored to substitute a common blossom in its place, with the gravest assurance that it was the article sought.
"I haven't heard of that flower before," said Fred. "Why were you asking for it?"
"I read about it last night," was the reply, "and had a curiosity to see what it was like."
"Well, what did you read that was interesting?"
"The description said that the termpalo de lechemeans simply 'milky plant,' and is applied to several plants from whose stems a milky substance exudes. We have the same kind of plant in the North, such as the milk-weed and its kindred. There are many varieties of the palo de leche in Mexico, and they belong to the family ofEuphorbia.
"One kind is used by the Indians for fishing; they throw the leaves into the water and the fishes are stupefied and rise to the surface, where they are easily taken before the effect of the narcotic has passed away. The same writer says that if the milk is thrown upon a fire it gives out fumes which produce nausea and severe headaches that often last for several hours. Taken internally, the milk of some of the Euphorbia is a deadly poison; it will produce death or insanity, according to the size and preparation of the dose or the condition of the person to whom it is administered. There is a popular belief among the Mexicans that the insanity of the ex-Empress Carlotta was caused by this poison. While many deny this and point to the fact that she became insane after going to Europe, they admit that the palo de leche is to be feared when in the hands of unscrupulous persons. On the other hand, it is claimed that the Indians can so prepare and use the poison as to regulate the time at which it will cause death or insanity."
"If that is the case," replied Fred, "it is no wonder that the flower-sellers do not deal in what you wanted. Perhaps it would not be altogether safe for a Mexican to ask for it, as he might be suspected of evil designs and bring the police nearer than would be comfortable."
The subject of palo de leche was dropped and the walk continued.
A COFFEE-CARRIER.
At a fountain they saw quite a group of men and quadrupeds, and a glance showed that the same system of water supply prevails here as in most other cities of Mexico. Water is carried by theaguadoreseither on their own backs or on those of donkeys. An aguador who possesses a donkey is an aristocrat in his line of business, and looks down upon the poor wretch who is obliged to be his own beast of burden. The mule and donkey are important animals at Vera Cruz, and a good part of the carrying business is in their hands—or on their backs.
FOUNTAIN AT VERA CRUZ.
Frank and Fred paused to look at the Governor's Palace, an imposing edifice of two stories with a high tower at one corner. There are wide balconies on each of the stories, where the occupants can sit in the shade and enjoy the cool breeze whenever it happens to blow. A drawback to sitting there is the presence of the mosquitoes, which fill all the space not taken up by the Governor and his household. Not only do the inhabitants of Vera Cruz maintain a constant warfare with mosquitoes, but they associate intimately with fleas, ticks, and other bodily annoyances. Official station offers no exemption; the insect pests are indiscriminate in their attentions, and light on the brow of the Governor or the general in command of the post just as readily as on that of the humblest peon. If there is any difference it is in favor of the peon, as his tougher skin renders him less inviting to the diminutive assailants.
THE GOVERNOR'S PALACE.
"Vera Cruz has had an interesting history," wrote Fred in his journal. "It was founded by Cortez in 1519, who gave it the name of Villa Rica de la Vera Cruz (the rich city of the true cross). The original site was a little north of the present one, and altogether the location of the cityhas been changed three times. The last change occurred in the year 1600, and brought it to where the first buildings were erected by the Spaniards before Cortez made the formal location of what he intended as the maritime metropolis of the New World.
"The city has suffered in a great many ways. Leaving out the annual visitation of yellow-fever, which we have already mentioned, it has had occasion to mourn the advent of buccaneers, pirates, hostile fleets and armies, and occasional conflagrations and hurricanes. In 1568, and again in 1683, it was sacked by pirates, and many of its inhabitants were killed. In 1618 it was nearly burned to the ground by a fire that broke out during a northerly gale. In 1822 and 1823 it was bombarded by the Spaniards, who held the Castle of San Juan de Ulloa, on the island opposite the city, in the struggle of the Mexicans for independence. In 1838 it was bombarded by the French, and nine years later by the Americans. The latter captured it by coming ashore on the beach some distance below the city and attacking it from the land side, so that the surrender was rendered imperative. Some of the Mexicans complained that General Scott did not 'fight fair,' as he made his attack where they were least prepared for defence. Evidentlythey expected him to march up to the muzzles of their guns instead of going around to the undefended rear of the city as he did.
"The shipping in the harbor was destroyed by a hurricane in 1856, and it has suffered serious damage in other years. President Juarez was besieged here in 1859 by General Miramon; two years later the city was taken by the French and Imperialists, and remained in their hands until 1867, when the death of Maximilian and the collapse of the Empire restored it to Mexican possession."
ON THE WAY TO THE FORT.
After breakfast the party arranged to visit the fortress which stands on the island of San Juan, already mentioned. At the mole, or pier, the only one of which Vera Cruz can boast, they hired a boat in which they were rowed to the fort; the distance is nearly a mile, and our friends were easily able to understand the unsafe character of the harbor of Vera Cruz. It is little better than an open roadstead; when high winds prevail landing from or embarking upon a steamer is impossible, and during heavy northers steamers sometimes put to sea for safety. There are no docks where vessels can lie; everything must be discharged or received by boats or lighters, and the uncertainties of the weather make the time of a steamer's departure very uncertain. The dangerous character of the harbor is said to cause the insurance companies to increase their rates when Vera Cruz is given as a vessel's destination.
"The fort is a grim-looking place," said Frank; "its walls are thick enough to justify the belief of its builders that it was impregnable. Whatever it may have been in ancient times, it is not of much consequence atpresent, and short work would be made of it by modern artillery. No attempt is made to keep it in condition to resist a determined attack, all the cannon which it possesses being of ancient date; many of these cannon would be quite as dangerous to the garrison as to the enemy in case they were discharged. The story goes that it cost so much to build the fort that the King of Spain once called for a telescope, and pointed it at the west.
"'For what is your Majesty looking?' inquired one of his officers of state.
"'I am looking for San Juan de Ulloa,' he answered; 'I have spent so much money on it that I ought to see the fort standing out on the western sky.'
"Our guide pointed out some great rings of copper that were built into the wall of the fortress on the face next to the city. These rings were intended for ships to tie to under protection of the guns, but in the past two hundred years the water has become so shoal that only a small boat can come near enough to make any use of the fastenings. There are large court-yards inside the fort, where a whole regiment could parade, and the casemates are sufficiently capacious to hold a garrison six times as large as the Government keeps here. Parts of the walls are broken down, and no effort is made to keep them in repair. The chief use of the once celebrated fort is as a prison; they told us that about sixty or seventy prisoners were kept there, some of them being sentenced for life. We looked into some of the vacant dungeons, and thought them the most horrible places of imprisonment we had ever seen. They are badly ventilated, very little light can enter them, and the walls are damp and almost dripping with moisture. Escape is out of the question, as the water around the island swarms with sharks, and a prisoner who should attempt to get away by swimming to the shore would be eaten by these monsters of the sea."
An excursion of a pleasanter character was made to the city of Jalapa (ha-la-pa—aas in father); it should be called a journey rather than an excursion, as it consumed no less than three days. Jalapa is seventy-four miles from Vera Cruz and 4000 feet above the sea, and one of the prettiest places in Mexico. Our friends were obliged to rise at a very early hour, as the train starts at 5a.m.; they went by steam for sixteen miles to Tejeria, and there changed to a tram-car, drawn by mules, for a ride of sixty miles. The old diligence-road between Vera Cruz and the capital passes through Jalapa, but it is not much used since the completion of the railway.
THE NATIONAL BRIDGE.—ROBBING A COACH.
General Scott marched by that road, and the youths were on the watch forEl Puente Nacional, or the National Bridge, where he was sharply resisted by the Mexican army. It is thirty-five miles from Vera Cruz, and is an immense viaduct, built in the early part of the present century, when the road to the capital was begun. In the happy days of brigandage it was the favorite spot for stopping coaches and plundering passengers; many a traveller has given up his valuables at this spot, under the potent influence of a pistol in the hands of a Mexican "road-agent."
"Sixty miles by mule-power was a long distance," said Fred, "and we wondered how it was to be accomplished. The mules went along at a good pace, considering that it was an ascending grade; they were urged by the whip in the hands of the driver, and he was certainly not a merciful one, perhaps for the reason that the mules belonged to the railway company and not to himself. Part of our ride was through a comparatively desert region, and we rejoiced that it was early in the morning while the sun was not high and hot. The train was composed of three cars; each car had four mules for its motive power, and the vehicles were divided into first, second, and third class. First class fare is $6.63; second class, $4.08; and third class not far from $2.00. My memorandum forthird class is so blurred that I cannot make the figures out to a certainty. The mules were changed every two hours, and seemed very well satisfied when their terms of service were ended.
SKETCHED AT RINCONADA.
"We stopped at Rinconada, where we breakfasted, and changed mules for the second time, the first change having been made at the National Bridge. The second station from Rinconada was Cerro Gordo, where General Scott defeated the Mexicans in 1847. It is a narrow pass bordered by high hills, and connects the lowlands of the coast with the regions of thetierra templada. How an army could get through the pass in the face of anything like determined and intelligent opposition by a force superior in numbers, it is difficult to understand. An English writer who has visited the spot says of it as follows: 'That 10,000 Americans should have been able to get through the mountain passes, and to reach the capital at all, is an astonishing thing; and after that, their successes in the Valley of Mexico follow as a matter of course. They could never have crossed the mountains but for a combination of circumstances.'
"After passing Cerro Gordo, in which we had no such difficulties as beset General Scott, we found ourselves in a less tropical region than the one behind us. Cornfields were numerous, and so were fields of barley; that we had not left the region of warmth altogether was evident by thesugar-cane and the coffee-trees that abounded in many places. They continued up to and into Jalapa, whither our mules went at a gallop, and came to a halt about half-past four in the afternoon. Twelve hours for a journey of seventy-four miles, up a slope of 4000 feet, and sixty miles of the distance by mule-power, isn't so bad after all.
PART OF JALAPA.
"There was a drawback to the interest of the scene in the shape of a cloud of mist in which we were enveloped as we entered the city; but the wind swept it away and we had some beautiful views; then it came on again, to our aggravation, and in fact it kept up a sort of peep-show performance all the time we were there. They told us that a good deal of rain falls at Jalapa, and when there is no rain there is generally a mist of more or less density. We were reminded of Ireland and Scotland, and in more ways than one; the mists that obstruct the view are the glory of Jalapa in keeping everything green, even to our memory of it. It does not rain, nor is the sky obscured all the time, else there would be no ripening of fruit in the gardens; and the gardens of Jalapa are among the finest in the world.
"The great staple of Jalapa is coffee, but there is a large product ofsugar; and as for plantains, bananas, mangoes, and similar fruits, they are to be had in abundance and for little more than the asking. We looked for that old-fashioned drastic medicine, jalap, which takes its name from the city, but were told it is no longer exclusively produced here. Doctor Bronson says the drug was introduced into England from Mexico in 1609, and was in use for 200 years before the plant from which it came was known. It belongs to the same family as the 'four-o'-clock' of our gardens, and grows wild in the mountains in the neighborhood of Jalapa. As this city was then the centre of commerce in this article, the name adhered to it, just as the name of Calicut adhered to the cloth called calico, which originally came from that town of India.
"Another staple for which Jalapa is famous is pretty women; but so far as we have been able to observe, it has no monopoly of them against the other cities of Mexico. They have been praised by many travellers, and there is a Mexican saying that 'Las Jalapeños son muy halagüeñas' ('the women of Jalapa are very charming.') We have seen many pretty faces, and if the weather had been uninterruptedly fine perhaps we could have seen more.
A NARROW STREET.
"The streets resemble those of Spain more than do any we saw in Mexico, Puebla, or Vera Cruz; they are narrow, crooked, and irregular, and separatingsolid old buildings with thick walls and heavily grated windows. The city has about 15,000 inhabitants, and there is said to have been an Indian town here at the time of Cortez's arrival. The houses cling to the hill-side as though afraid of falling off, and there is a good deal of uphill and down-hill in a walk through the streets; in fact it seems to be uphill no matter which way you go. An excellent feature about the streets is their cleanliness.
"Another vegetable product of the region around Jalapa is the vanilla, which was cultivated here long before the Conquest. The Indians had practically a monopoly of it at one time, but its cultivation has spread to other parts of Mexico and Central America, and also to distant countries. The best quality still comes from this part of Mexico, and the Indians show great skill in harvesting and curing the pods. The drying of the pods takes a long time, and if any mistake is made in the process, it greatly injures the value of the product.
"We had a fine view of the peak of Orizaba and the famous mountain of Perote, which, from its shape, is known as thecofre, or casket. At the base of this mountain is the town of Perote, which was famous during the Mexican War as the place where some Americans were imprisoned. Doctor Bronson says there was a novel of that time called 'The Prisoner of Perote,' which had a very large circulation.
"Downhill is easier than uphill all the world over, and nowhere more so than on a tram-way. We started from Jalapa at seven in the morning, and went flying down the road, turning curves at a gallop, dashing on as though pursued by a Nemesis or a pack of wolves, and raising clouds of dust wherever the roads were dry. Our hair stood on end half the time—figuratively at least; and I wished the mules could have told us what they thought of such recklessness. We breakfasted again at Rinconada, and at a little past four in the afternoon rolled into Vera Cruz."
Jalapa is to be connected with Puebla and the city of Mexico by the Interoceanic Railway, perhaps before these words appear in print, as a part of the line is already built and work is being pushed on the remainder. As has been shown on previous pages, it is the intention to carry the railway through to the Pacific Ocean by making use of the line already completed from the capital to Morelos and Yautepec. Another Pacific line has been surveyed from Puebla through the State of Oajaca, and a part of the road has been built.
On their return trip from Jalapa to Vera Cruz our friends made the acquaintance of a railway engineer who had been at work upon the line from Tampico westward. He was enthusiastic about the future ofTampico, and predicted that when the railway had formed its connection with the National and Central lines Vera Cruz would be "out in the cold," as he expressed it. "Tampico has," said he, "a harbor that can be greatly improved by dredging away a part of the bar, which is now dangerous; the town is five miles up a river, and affords the shelter which a ship cannot find at Vera Cruz. With the dredging I mentioned, the port can be used by the same class of vessels that now go to Vera Cruz. Tampico will get all the business when the railway is completed and the line opened to the capital."