Mérida, Mexico

“ From fifty to fifty-five thousand people reside in this city of Merida, the greater portion of whom are Indians, or people directly descended from them, who show in their swarthy skins their native blood. From a union of the two races, Spanish and Indian, result the Mestizos,—feminine, Mestizas,—or mixed people, who are the handsomest in all Mexico. They are a gentle, docile race, loving pleasure, not always avoiding labor, cleanly in habit, and perfectly honest. ”

“ BURIED in the wildernesses of Yucatan, ruined cities await in silence the coming of the traveller,—cities that had their birth so far back in the twilight of time that not a tradition even remains to tell who built them. Within a radius of one hundred miles from Merida are such magnificent ruins as Mayapan, Aké, Chichen-Itza, Kabah, and Labná, and scores of others. But none is more interesting than UXMAL, which is also very accessible, being within forty miles of the capital, in a straight line, and sixty miles by road. ”

“ Rarely does a visitor to Merida, or indeed to any portion of Mexico, obtain an inside view of life there; but, fortunately for me, while there, society was turned inside out by the occurrence of the carnival. It was near the middle of that memorable sixteenth century that witnessed the conquests of Cuba, of Mexico, and of Peru, that the Spanish invaders founded, upon the ruins of the Indian city of T'ho, this now ancient metropolis, the capital city of Yucatan. Probably no one of the old cities of Mexico has so faithfully preserved its old-time characteristics as this. ”

“ The city of Merida contains about 20,000 inhabitants. It is founded on the site of an old Indian village, and dates from a few years after the conquest. In different parts of the city are the remains of Indian buildings. As the capital of the powerful State of Yucatan, it had always enjoyed a high degree of consideration in the Mexican confederacy, and throughout the republic is famed for its sabios or learned men. The State of Yucatan had declared its independence of Mexico ”

“ The house of Montejo—now the property of one of the many branches of the Peon family, the wealthiest of all Yucatecans—bears the date 1541, and is thus the oldest building in Merida. The façade is fine, and the doorway is a [Pg 65] typically Spanish representation of militarism plus bigotry—two knights, armed cap-à-pie, being engaged in the congenial occupation of trampling underfoot two Indians who "take it lying down," as, alas! their descendants are still doing.
Life in Merida is as artificial as—indeed more artificial than—that of Mexico City. ”

“ Yet one might very easily imagine that fusion of all these five widely different peoples might produce a people much like the Mayas. They are not large in stature, but their features are remarkably finely chiselled and their bodies give a strong impression of elegance and grace. Their skins are olive, their foreheads high, their faces slightly aquiline. The women of all classes in Merida wear long, flowing white gowns, unbound at the waist and embroidered about the hem and perhaps also about the bust in some bright color—green, blue or purple. ”

“ For a city so isolated, and in a climate so totally antagonistic to the development of literary talent, Merida contains many writers of more than local distinction. Her list embraces authors of valuable historical works, writers of fiction, poetry, and the drama. One work, a Dictionary of the Maya, the aboriginal language of the peninsula, is especially valuable; and a recent drama written here has been produced in Havana and Madrid. It may seem strange that men of education and reputation should prefer to live in this remote section of the world ”

“ The State of Yucatan, sometimes known by the name of Merida or Campeché, occupies the greater portion of the peninsula which bounds the southern edge of the Gulf of Mexico. Its eastern side is washed by the Caribbean Sea, and touched by the settlements at Balize; on the south it is bounded by Guatemala; on the west by the Gulf of Mexico and the States of Chiapas and Tabasco, from which it is separated by the river Paicutun that falls into the Laguna de Terminos. Its northern coast extends from Cape Catoché to the Punta de Piedras, about eighty-six leagues ”

“ Why longer wait in Mérida for our boat? Progreso is cleaner, cooler, enjoys a sea breeze, and gives as good living for less than half the price we were paying. For comfort, for the benefit of our sick man, for the advantage of our pocket, we would be better off at Progreso than in Mérida. While there were cases of small-pox in the little seaport, there were none of yellow fever. In every way it looked attractive, and on Monday morning we left, and found ourselves, before noon, comfortably located in the curious little hotel, La Estrella de Oro, in Progreso. ”

“ Francisco de Montejo, who founded Merida, had occupied Chichen in 1527, but had been compelled to abandon it and seek reinforcements in Mexico. On his return he was enabled,Pg 270 through a traitorous cacique, to establish himself here, and built Merida in 1542. The conquest of Yucatan was longer and beset with greater difficulties than that of Mexico; here the Spaniards were continually threatened by a warlike population, ever on the alert to raise the standard of rebellion. ”

“ Though lying just midway between Havana and Vera Cruz in point of longitude,—cities smitten with yellow-fever every summer,—Merida rarely suffers from this scourge. But few cases annually occur, it not often becomes epidemic, and it is said that at no time has the vomito existed in Merida and in its seaport, Progreso, at the same time. The city is generally in a very healthy condition, though its only supply of water is derived from the clouds and from subterranean caverns.
The climate is hot as the hottest, but the furnace heat of midday is tempered by cool breezes ”

“ The news reached Mérida, whereupon the governor at once despatched to Hunucma Captain Juan Arévalo de Loaisa with a company of soldiers, who on arrival found that the raiders had already retired with the plunder and prisoners to their ship, and put to sea. The Spaniards followed the coast, and guarded the port eighteen days, the enemy standing off, though in sight. Upon reporting this to the governor, Arévalo and Juan Garzon were ordered to embark on a vessel in pursuit ”

“ Conditions in Mérida are the most abnormal of any place which I have visited. Owing to the war in the Philippines, and interference with the trade in hemp, the fiber of the hennequín is in great demand, and money is plentiful. At good restaurants each plate costs thirty cents, instead of ten or twelve, as in the City of Mexico itself. No coach will cross the street for less than fifty cents ”

“ Political quarrels and intestine strife were endless. The rivalry between Campeche and Mérida was fierce and implacable, and for years a series of struggles had been carried on, each more sanguinary and deplorable than the last. It became obvious that the only means of terminating them was by separation. On February 5, 1858, Campeche, recognizing the constitution of 1857, and following the example of Vera Cruz, asserted its sovereignty; all the towns in the district having declared in favor of its separation from Yucatan, it proclaimed its elevation into a state, May 18, 1858. ”

“ A great mound once covered the space now occupied by the Plaza Mayor, and on and around it, in 1540, a terrible battle was fought,—forty thousand Indians against two hundred Spaniards, says the old historian. The mound was razed, and from its materials and the many pyramids of stone erected by the Indians in ages past, the city of Merida was built. The last of these mounds, an immense artificial elevation containing an aboriginal arch, has just been dug away for the building-stone composing it.
There are fifteen plazas in the city, and each one has facing it a church ”

“ In Yucatan the reactionists possessed only Mérida; Tabasco was beset by the liberals; Chiapas was entirely under the control of the latter; and so were Oajaca, Guerrero, nearly the whole of Michoacan, Sonora, Aguascalientes, Zacatecas, Nuevo Leon, Coahuila, and Chihuahua, Tehuantepec, Colima, and even Tlascala; and among the states where Zuloaga's authority was recognized, such as Vera Cruz, Tamaulipas, San Luis Potosí, Guanajuato, Jalisco, and Mexico, there were some now in most important points occupied by the constitutionalists. ”

“ Revolutions in Mexico following the overthrow of Porfirio Diaz succeeded for a time at least in paralyzing if not destroying the sisal industry that had made Yucatan celebrated throughout the world and had caused Merida to be known as a city of millionaires; and shortly before the beginning of the great European War, men who had devoted their lives to henequen culture and who feared that Mexico could no longer be relied on for this product, began to look over the Cuban field for opportunity for the more extensive cultivation of the plant. ”

“ This is a frequent occurrence, and foot-passengers who desire to cross the street are often forced to hire a coach for that purpose. As one walks the street, he runs constant risk of being splashed with mud and water from passing vehicles and street-cars. During the four days we spent in Mérida we met several persons interested in literary lines, and visited a number of institutions, among which the most interesting was the Museo Yucateco, of which Señor Gamboa Guzman is in charge. ”

“ In the mean time the licenciate Yñigo de Argüello Carbajal [16] was sent as visitador, and presented himself in Merida August 14, 1630. Notwithstanding the governor's opposition, [17] Carbajal began to execute his mission; whereupon Vargas ordered him to leave Mérida within six days, and the province within fifteen days, and made preparations for armed resistance. At this juncture the bishop, Gonzalo de Salazar, interfered in behalf of the visitador. ”

“ There he taught philosophy, and perfected himself in Greek, mathematics, and the modern languages. Seven years later he passed to the Jesuit college recently opened in Mérida, Yucatan, where after a few years, his superiors recognizing his fitness for the work, he was called to Mexico to continue the history of the society. ”

“ Some part of the expedition, if not the whole of it, made its appearance off the coast, for in May 1571 some Frenchmen landed at the port of Sisal, and meeting with no resistance, they went as far as the town of Hunucma, four leagues inland and on the road to Mérida. There being none bat the natives to oppose them, they secured the plaza, and then plundered the Franciscan convent of 'its silver plate and ornaments, [18] and committed other outrages. ”

“ The cathedral of Mérida in the diocese of Yucatan was finished in 1598 though not consecrated until the 12th of December, 1763. [41] The revenue of the see was small, yet the cathedral was well provided with everything required for decorous public worship, many of the ornaments and regalia being very rich; some of its paintings were also fine works of art, the king, the bishops, and the canons liberally contributing toward that end. ”

“ Doctor Pedro Agustin de Estevez y Ugarte, from 1801 to May 8, 1827, when he died. Iglesias y Conventos, 326-7. ↑ In fact, Mérida and Guadalajara were the two first cities that proclaimed the federal system in 1823, for which Yucatan was rebuked by Lúcas Alaman, then minister of relations of the provisional government. He qualified the act as immature, uncircumspect, and anarchical, and as one that might imperil national independence and safety. ↑ The acts of the pronunciamiento and documents therewith connected may be found in Suarez y Navarro, Hist. Méx., 170-1; Rivera, Hist. Jalapa, ii. ”

“ We have a day at Progreso, and we are planning to go ashore to visit Mérida, the famous old capital of Yucatan, and evidently most interesting. The accounts in Terry's Guide are quite alluring. It was founded on the remains of the ancient Mayan city, and has a celebrated cathedral built by one of the men who came over with Cortés, and still filled with good old things. The description of Montejo's house, with its door flanked on each side by the stone figure of a Spanish knight with his feet on the head of a Mayan Indian, shows what that conqueror thought of the situation. ”

“ From the summit of the pass the ground sweeps away to the southward, an ocean of white-flowered cistus bushes interspersed with the vivid yellow of the broom. But this brilliant spectacle does not continue for many miles; it soon gives way to the{225} usual jumble of rock and grass and olive; and at last from this stony upland one looks down across the sloping cornfields to the distant Guadiana and the town of Mérida.
A big red-roofed village with no special feature, built beside the broad and sandy bed of a great river, Mérida from a distance looks commonplace enough. ”

“ In the centre of the plaza itself [Pg 69] the town band assembles, and this is a signal for a nightly promenade of the humbler Meridians. Nothing can be more picturesque or typical. The seats are filled for the most part with the older people; fat old men, linen-suited and besandalled, armed generally with an incongruous ill-rolled umbrella, smoke and doze; beside them solid-looking Yucatecan matrons with gold chains round their necks from which hang gold coins and a metal or ivory crucifix; at their feet a baby or two, dressed in the shortest of shifts, play about.
But young Merida walks. ”