“ There they arise, great palace walls where sculptured tigers and serpents, and strange designs, run in barbaric riot around their ruined façades, above grim vaults, subterranean passages, and chambers of inexplicable purpose. There they stand, chapters in stone of the history of a people whose destiny it seems to have been to have formed no link in the purpose and evolution of man; a people who seem to have been upon the threshold of a true civilisation.The form of government of the principal peoples of Anahuac, the Aztecs and Texcocans, was an uncommon one—that of an elected monarchy. ”
C. Reginald Enock
Summary
C. Reginald Enock’s Mexico offers a vivid exploration of the country’s historical and cultural fabric, merging its pre-Columbian heritage with Spanish colonial legacies and contemporary industrial growth. Through evocative depictions of Aztec ruins, Spanish-occupied cities like Veracruz, and the stark contrasts between indigenous life and European influence, Enock examines themes of civilization, imperialism, and the enduring strength of Mexican identity.
The text interlaces narratives of ancient pyramids, mining ventures, and the hardships faced by the peon class, portraying Mexico as a land of contradictions—where ancient traditions coexist with railways and economic expansion. Enock’s work remains a testament to the region’s intricate balance between history and advancement.
Quotes from Mexico (C. Reginald Enock)
“ The city is one of handsome buildings, wide streets, and fine avenues. Its architecture bears the stamp of its Spanish origin—the typical and picturesque façades of the houses, the grille-covered windows, the balconies looking on to the streets, and other characteristic features well known to the traveller in Spanish-America. The great plaza, ever the pulse and centre of these communities, is known here as the Zocalo; and this ample square is that same one around which the Aztec city—the famous Tenochtitlan—was built, upon whose foundations the Mexican capital arose. ”
“ Day by day a huge coffin-shaped mountain had overhung the horizon—the Cofre de Perote, an extinct volcano, in whose vicinity the desolating action of old lava-flows startles the traveller's eye. As they reached the summit of the range—the crests of the Eastern Sierra Madre—the rain and snow and bitter winds, the functions of Nature which she ever lets loose upon the head of the traveller who defies her in such inclement regions, assailed the Spaniards, and some of the unfortunate Indians, natives of the tropic lands of the coast, succumbed to the cold. ”
