Part 19 (1/2)
Nineteenth Day's Instruction.
MEXICO OR NEW SPAIN.
The Spanish possessions in North America, extend from the isthmus of Darien, along the coast of the Pacific Ocean, to the distance of more than two thousand two hundred miles. One half of them is situated under the burning sky of the tropics, and the other belongs to the temperate zone. Their whole interior forms an immense plain, elevated from six to eight thousand feet above the level of the adjacent seas. The chain of _mountains_ which const.i.tutes this vast plain, is a continuation of that which, under the name Andes, runs through South America. They are, in general, little interrupted by valleys, and, for the most part, their declivity is very gentle. In consequence of this elevation, the Mexican provinces, situated under the torrid zone, enjoy a cold rather than a temperate _climate_. The interior provinces, in the temperate zone, have, like the rest of North America, a climate essentially different from that of the same parallels in the European continent. A remarkable inequality prevails between the temperature of the different seasons: German winters succeed to Neapolitan and Sicilian summers.
This country suffers many inconveniences from a want of water, and particularly of navigable rivers. The Rio del Norte and the Rio Colorado are almost the only _rivers_ of any importance. The _lakes_ with which Mexico abounds, are merely the remains of immense basins of water, which appear to have formerly existed on the high and extensive plains of the Cordilleras. The largest of these, the _Lake of Chapala_, contains nearly one hundred and sixty square leagues, and is about twice as large as the lake of Constance.
A great portion of high land, in the interior of New Spain, is dest.i.tute of vegetation; and some of the loftiest summits are clad with perpetual snow. This country is not so much disturbed by earthquakes as several parts of South America; for, in the whole of New Spain there are only five _volcanos_; Orizaba, Popocatepetl, Tuxtla, Jorullo, and Colima.
The _volcano of Jorullo_, in the province of Valladolid, was formed during the night of the 29th of September, 1759. The great catastrophe, in which this mountain rose from the earth, and by which a considerable s.p.a.ce of ground changed its appearance, is, perhaps, one of the most extraordinary physical revolutions in the history of the earth. Geology points out parts of the ocean, where, at recent periods, near the Azores, in the Egean Sea, and to the south of Iceland, small volcanic islands have arisen above the surface of the water; but it gives no example of the formation, amidst a thousand small burning cones, of a mountain of scoria, near seventeen hundred feet in height, above the adjoining plain. Till the middle of the year 1759, fields cultivated with sugar-canes and indigo occupied the extent of ground between the two brooks called Cultamba and San Pedro. In the month of June, a subterraneous noise was heard. Hollow sounds of most alarming description, were accompanied by frequent earthquakes, which succeeded one another for fifty or sixty days, to the great consternation of the inhabitants. From the beginning of September every thing seemed to announce the complete re-establishment of tranquillity; when, in the night between the 28th and 29th, the subterraneous noises recommenced.
The affrighted Indians fled to the mountains; and a tract of ground, from three to four square miles in extent, which goes by the name of _Malpays_, rose up in the shape of a bladder. The bounds of this convulsion are still distinguishable in the fractured strata. The Malpays, near its edges, is only about forty feet above the old level of the plain; but the convexity of the ground thus thrown up, increases progressively, towards the centre, to an elevation of more than five hundred and twenty feet.
The persons who witnessed this astonis.h.i.+ng catastrophe, a.s.sert that flames were seen to issue forth, for an extent of more than half a square league; that fragments of burning rocks were thrown up to prodigious heights; and that, through a thick cloud of ashes, illumined by the volcanic fire, the softened surface of the earth was seen to swell up like an agitated sea. The rivers of Cultamba and San Pedro precipitated themselves into the burning chasms. The decomposition of the water contributed to invigorate the flames, which were distinguishable at a vast distance. Eruptions of mud, and other substances, indicated that subterraneous water had no small share in producing this extraordinary revolution. Thousands of small cones, from six to nine feet in height, called by the Indians ”hornitos,” or ovens, issued forth from the Malpays. Each small cone is a ”fumorola,” from which a thick vapour ascends; and in many of them a subterraneous noise is heard, which appears to announce the proximity of a fluid in ebullition. In the midst of the ovens six large ma.s.ses, elevated from one thousand three hundred to one thousand six hundred and forty feet above the old level of the plains, sprung up from a chasm. The most elevated of these is the great volcano of Jorullo. It is continually burning, and has thrown up an immense quant.i.ty of scorified and basaltic lavas, containing fragments of primitive rocks. These great eruptions of the central volcano continued till the month of February, 1760. In the following year they became gradually less frequent. The Indians, frightened at the horrible noises of the new volcano, had abandoned all the villages, within seven or eight leagues of it. They, however, gradually became accustomed to them, and returned to their cottages. So violent were the eruptions of this mountain, that the roofs of houses in Queretaro, though at a distance of more than forty-eight leagues, in a straight line from the scene of explosion, were sometimes covered with ashes.
The Mexican _population_ consists of seven races, 1. Individuals born in Europe; 2. Creoles, or Whites of European extraction, born in America; 3. Mesti zos, or descendants of whites and Indians; 4. Mulattoes, descendants of whites and negroes; 5. Zambos, descendants of negroes and Indians; 6. Indians, or the copper-coloured indigenous race; and, 7.
African negroes.
The number of _Indians_, including those only who have no mixture of European or African blood, are more than two millions and a half in number; and these appear to const.i.tute about two-fifths of the whole population of Mexico. They bear a general resemblance to the Indians of Canada, Florida, Peru, and Brazil: they have a similar swarthy and copper-coloured skin, smooth hair, little beard, squat body, long eyes, with the corners directed upward towards the temples, prominent cheek bones, and thick lips. There is a great diversity in their language, but they appear to have been all descendants from the same original stock.
It is probable that these Indians would live to a great age, did they not often injure their const.i.tution by drunkenness. Their intoxicating liquors are rum, a fermentation of maize, and the root of the jatropha; and especially a wine which is made from the juice of the great American aloe. The police, in the city of Mexico, sends round tumbrils, to collect such drunkards as are found lying in the streets. These are treated like dead bodies, and are carried to the princ.i.p.al guard-house.
The next morning an iron ring is put round each of their ancles, and, as a punishment, they are made to cleanse the streets for three days.
The Mexican Indian, when not under the influence of intoxicating liquors, is grave, melancholic, and silent. The most violent pa.s.sions are never depicted in his features; and it is sometimes frightful to see him pa.s.s, at once, from a state of apparent repose, to the most violent and unrestrained agitation. It is stated that these Indians have preserved, from their ancestors, a particular relish for carving in wood and stone; and that it is astonis.h.i.+ng to see what they are able to execute with a bad knife, on the hardest wood. Many Indian children, educated in the college of the capital, or instructed at the academy of painting, founded by the king of Spain, have considerably distinguished themselves, but without leaving the beaten track pursued by their forefathers; they chiefly display great apt.i.tude in the arts of imitation; and in the purely mechanical arts.
The _Spanish inhabitants_ and the _Creoles_ are noted for hospitality, generosity, and sobriety; but they are extremely deficient in energy, patriotism, enterprise, and independence of character. The women have black eyes and hair, and fine teeth: they are of dark colour, full habit of body, and have, in general, bad figures. They usually wear short jackets and petticoats, high-heeled shoes, and no head-dress. As an upper garment they have a silk wrapper, which, when they are in the presence of men, they affect to bring over their faces. In the towns on the frontiers and adjacent to the sea-coast, many of the ladies wear gowns, like those of our country-women. The lower cla.s.ses of men are generally dressed in broad-brimmed hats, short coats, large waistcoats, smallclothes open at the knees, and a kind of boot or leather wrapper bound round the leg, and gartered at the knee. The spurs of the gentlemen are clumsy: they are ornamented with raised work; and the straps are embroidered with gold and silver thread. The Spanish Americans are always ready to mount their horses; and the inhabitants of the interior provinces pa.s.s nearly half their day on horseback. In the towns, and among the higher ranks, the men dress in the European style.
The _amus.e.m.e.nts_ of this people are music, singing, dancing, and gambling: the latter is, indeed, officially prohibited; but the prohibition is not much attended to. At every large town there is a public walk, where the ladies and gentlemen meet and sing songs. The females have fine voices, and sing French, Italian, and Spanish music, the whole company joining in chorus. In their houses the ladies play on the guitar, and accompany this instrument with their voices. They either sit on the carpet cross-legged, or loll on a sofa: to sit upright, on a chair, appears to put them to great inconvenience.
Both in _eating_ and _drinking_ the Spanish Americans are remarkably temperate. Early in the morning those of the higher cla.s.s have chocolate. At twelve they dine on meat, fowls, and fish; after which different kinds of confectionary are placed on the table; they drink a few gla.s.ses of wine, sing a few songs, and then retire to take their _siesta_ or afternoon nap. The latter is a practice common both to rich and poor: the consequence of it is that, about two o'clock, every day, the windows and doors of the town are all closed, the streets are deserted, and the stillness of midnight reigns throughout. At four they rise, wash and dress, and prepare for the dissipation of the evening.
About eleven o'clock refreshments are offered; but few take any thing except a little wine and water and candied sugar.
The _commerce_ of New Spain, with Europe and the United States, is carried on through the port of Vera Cruz only; and with the East Indies and South America, through that of Acapulco. But all the commercial transactions, and all the productions and manufactures, are subjected to such severe restrictions, that they are at present of little importance to the prosperity of the country. Were the various bays and harbours of Mexico and California to be opened to the trade of the world; and were correct regulations to be adopted, New Spain might become both wealthy and powerful. Many parts of the country abound in iron ore, yet iron and steel articles, of every description, are brought from Europe; for the manufacturing or working of iron is here strictly prohibited. This occasions the requisite utensils of husbandry, arms, and tools, to be enormously dear; and forms a great check to the progress of agriculture, and to improvements in manufactures.
The _ancient Mexicans_ preserved the memory of events by figures painted on skins, cloth, or the bark of trees. These hieroglyphical and symbolical characters, being considered by the ignorant and bigoted Spaniards to be monuments of idolatry, the first bishop of Mexico destroyed as many of them as could be collected. In consequence of this barbarous procedure, the knowledge of remote events was lost, except what could be derived from tradition, and from some fragments of those paintings which eluded the search of the monks.
With regard to the _public edifices_ of the Mexicans: their temples were merely mounds of earth faced with stone; and it is probable that their other public buildings were equally rude. The ancient natives bestowed little attention on agriculture, and were strangers to the use of money; but their ornaments of gold and silver indicated considerable ingenuity.
They were acquainted with the manufacture of paper, of coa.r.s.e cotton-cloth, gla.s.s, and earthenware; and they possessed the arts of casting metals, of making mosaic work with sh.e.l.ls and feathers, of spinning and weaving the hair of animals, and of dying with indelible colours.
The _religion_ of the ancient Mexicans, like that of all unenlightened nations, seems to have been founded chiefly on fear; and consisted of a system of gloomy rites and practices, the object of which was to avert the evils that they suffered or dreaded. They had some notion of an invisible supreme Being; but their chief anxiety was to deprecate the wrath of certain imaginary malignant spirits, whom they regarded as the enemies of mankind. They wors.h.i.+pped idols, formed of wood and stone; and decorated their temples with the figures of serpents, tigers, and other destructive animals. They believed in the immortality of the soul; but their notions of a future state may be collected from their funeral rites: the bodies, or the ashes of the deceased, were generally buried with whatever was judged necessary for their accommodation or comfort in the other world, where it was believed they would experience the same desires, and be engaged in the same occupations, as in this. The religion established by the Spaniards is the Roman Catholic; and it is computed that one-fifth part of the Spanish inhabitants are ecclesiastics, monks, and nuns.
The _Spanish government_ in America is vested in officers called viceroys, who represent the person of their sovereign; and who possess his royal prerogatives, within the precincts of their own territories.
In its present state, New Spain is divided into twelve intendancies, and three districts, which are called provinces[2].
FOOTNOTES:
[2] For particulars respecting the conquest of Mexico by the Spaniards, see ”Biographical Conversations on Eminent Voyagers,” p. 59 to 73.