Vera Cruz

“ As out of the entire population of fifteen thousand eight hundred and fifty souls, all but seventy-three are professed Catholics, and as there is no Protestant or other church organization, save the Catholic, in the municipality, the honor or blame of the moral condition of society in Vera Cruz belongs, altogether, to the Mother Church. Vera Cruz has more commerce and more travel than any other port of Mexico, and her population ought to rank higher in the scale of enlightenment and prosperity than that of any other sea-port town. ”

“ Protected as they are by city ordinance, they run about like flocks of chickens. They scarcely move aside for the passer-by. There is not much of interest in Vera Cruz, although the city contains several ancient churches, Spanish towers, and one mediæval fortress, built in the early period of the Conquest.
THE TAME VULTURES OF VERA CRUZ
After lunch at the hotel, where I was sadly overcharged, “Mr. Sam” rowed me a quarter of a mile to the steamship Monterey. ”

“ I have purposely digressed from our line of march to repeat the warning to would-be visitors to Mexico, not to pass through Vera Cruz in the summer season.
Once a person has had the fever, he generally has immunity from further attack, and the old residents of Vera Cruz laugh at its approach, and pursue their avocations without seriously regarding it. This is why they cling so strongly to this pestilential seaport, since the transfer of its business to a new and more healthy locality has often been urged, and always by them strenuously resisted. ”

“ Sixty miles from Vera Cruz the American forces came to the mountain-pass of Cerro Gordo, where Santa Anna, the president of Mexico, awaited the invaders with an army of thirteen thousand men. The heights overhanging the road bristled with guns, and the lofty hill of Cerro Gordo was strongly fortified, rendering the place almost impregnable to an attack from the direction of Vera Cruz. ”

“ While Vera Cruz, the gateway to the heart of the nation, was yet threatened with this hostile movement, the inhabitants received the unpleasant tidings that a revolution had broken out in the capital, and that the troops destined to move to their aid were there employed. It was more interesting fighting each other for individual supremacy than banding against the invaders. The fortifications of Vera Cruz were not in a satisfactory condition, many important points being out of repair, and the armament by no means in serviceable order. ”

“ I thought of Elliott, when the darkish women in pink dresses, with a blue veil or two and jewelry and many children, got on the boat to go from Progreso to Vera Cruz. It must have been the sort he used to see in Haiti. I have just written Aunt Laura, to post at Vera Cruz, that she may know we are en route to the land of the cactus. Events have succeeded one another so quickly these past few months that I am dazed. Only the thread of love and sorrow and high adventure that holds life together keeps me steady. ”

“ The Prior of Vera Cruz was neither old nor severe, as the men selected to govern communities of youthful religious are accustomed to be. On the contrary, he was in the flower of his age, and had all the manner of a joyful and diverting youth. His fathership, as they told us, had acquired the priory by means of a gift of a thousand ducats, which he had sent to the Father Provincial. After dinner he invited some of us to visit his cell, and there it was we came to know the levity of his life. It exhibited little of the appearance of a life of penance and self-mortification. ”

“ Vera Cruz itself was then inhabited by wealthy and influential Spaniards. Santa Anna then commanded in the province, under the orders of Echavarri, the Captain-General, and with instructions from Yturbide, relative to the taking of the castle. The commandant was the Spanish General Don José Davila. It was not, however, till the following year, when Lemaur succeeded Davila in the command of the citadel, that hostilities were begun by bombarding Vera Cruz.
Men, women and children then abandoned the city. ”

“ Windows, balconies, streets, and house tops were filled with people, whose demeanor manifested what was passing in their hearts, but who were restrained by massive ranks of surrounding soldiery from all demonstration in behalf of the banished priests. In Vera Cruz some silent but respectful tokens of veneration were bestowed upon the fathers, several of whom died in that pestilential city before the vessels were ready to transport them beyond the sea. Nor did their sufferings cease with their departure from New Spain. ”

“ There are few records as to the condition of the Province of Vera Cruz for some twenty or thirty years after the sack of its capital. About 1730 the city contained perhaps three thousand Spaniards, mulattoes, and negroes, apart from its garrison; the remainder of its heterogeneous population including people from all the western nations of Europe. ”

“ 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. ”

“ The original town of Vera Cruz founded by Cortes lies several miles north of the present city.
Referring to this spot, the historian Prescott, in his Conquest of Mexico, vol. i, p. 229, says: "Little did the Conqueror imagine that the desolate beach on which he first planted his foot, was one day to be covered by a flourishing city, the great mart of European and Oriental trade, the commercial capital of New Spain."
At the present day about two thirds of Mexican commerce passes through the port of Vera Cruz. The imports
Jalapa. ”

“ Neither of the officers made any reply, but their dark looks boded no good for the boys.
"You might just as well look pleasant," laughed Billie. "All is fair in love and war."
"We'll make you sing a different song when we get you in Vera Cruz," said the captain.
"And when do you think that will be, Captain?" queried Adrian.
"As soon as the next train comes along."
"Oh, that's it, is it?" said Donald. "That being the case, I guess we will not wait for another train. By the way, how far is it to Vera Cruz?" ”

“ We have been tossed about during four days in sight of Vera Cruz, and are now further from it than before. The officers begin to look miserable; even the cook with difficulty preserves his equilibrium.
Sunday, 8th.—A Norte! The sky is watery, and covered with shapeless masses of reddish clouds. This is a great day amongst all Spanish Catholics, Le Virgen de la Concepción, the patroness of Spain and the Indies; but no mass to-day; the padre sick and the Norte blowing. ”

“ The German and Russian ministers take the Mexico as far as Progreso, whence they depart on some sort of hunting expedition, and promise aigrettes and similar vanities. We have all been sitting on the breezy side of the boat, sipping lemonade, talking of Mexico in perspective and "letting him who will be wise." Vera Cruz is a memory of color, green and pink and white, merciless sun, refreshing breeze, and the Veracruzanos, of all shades and origins, coming and going, carrying on [338] their heads the abundances of earth and sea. I post this in Havana. ”

“ Early in the seventeenth century this place also was abandoned for the present city, Nueva Vera Cruz, or "New Vera Cruz," at it is called. Of the true cause of these successive migrations we are ignorant. If, at is pretended, it was on account of the vomito, the inhabitants, one would suppose, can have gained little by the exchange. (See Humboldt, Essai Politique, tom. ii. p. 210.) A want of attention to these changes has led to much confusion and inaccuracy in the ancient maps. Lorenzana has not escaped them in his chart and topographical account of the route of Cortés. ”

“ DESCRIPTION OF THE CITY OF VERA CRUZ AND CASTLE
OF SAN JUAN DE ULLOA.
"Vera Cruz is situated in 19 11′ 52′′ north latitude. One portion of its walls is washed by the Atlantic, and the shore on the opposite side is a dry and sandy plain.
"The city is small, but from the regularity which marks its laying out, it is beautiful. The streets are wide, straight, and well paved. The houses, of which there are one thousand and sixty-three, are mostly two stories high, and built of the Muscara stone, taken from the sea-beach. ”

“ The five days that we spent in Vera Cruz were anxious days for those who had assumed the responsibility of our little party. Never was there a worse time to travel over a road which at best was unsafe, and yet we could not remain where we were without danger. ”

“ Orizaba was for a long time capital of its state. Vera Cruz, and is now the pleasure and health resort for people from all over the republic, besides being the home of the wealthy people of Vera Cruz. No yellow fever or any of the other diseases come to this dainty valley, yet twelve doctors are holding forth and trying to gain a living in the vicinity. All are Spanish, with the exception of one, an Austrian, and only two speak English, one of whom used to write for an American paper. ”

“ Vera Cruz, 18th. This morning, the sanguine hoped and the desponding feared, for the wind, though inclining to la brisa, seemed unlikely to prove sufficiently strong to enable us to reach Vera Cruz—this being the twenty-fifth day since we left Havana; a voyage that, with a steamer, might be performed in three days, and with a sailing vessel and a fair wind, is made in six or seven. About noon, the aspect of things became more favorable. The breeze grew stronger, and with it our hopes. ”

“ The mode of conveyance between Vera Cruz and Mexico is chiefly by an establishment of stage-coaches, making three journeys a-week between the capitals. Those vehicles, originally established by an American of the United States, are now the property of a Mexican whom they are rapidly making rich. The horses are Mexican, and, though small, are strong and spirited. ”

“ Maas, the other side of Guayabo, and [Pg 121] there is almost no chance of your being allowed to pass through the lines."
"Why not?" from Adrian.
"Well, you see, since we have heard anything, relations between the two countries have become more and more strained and the United States has practically declared a blockade on Vera Cruz. The entire Atlantic fleet is assembled outside and there is liable to be a clash at any time."
"Then we'll accept the horses, Mr. Black," spoke up Donald, "and we'll ride to Vera Cruz. It can't be more than fifty miles." ”

“ The land journey to Vera Cruz was long and toilsome—the rivers were already swollen by the winter rains, and it was doubtful if we should succeed in crossing them; and after reaching that city we might still have to wait a long time before we could obtain a passage to any port in the United States. ”

“ The Jarocho is temperate, frank, loyal, and hospitable to the whites (by this term he means the higher classes) ; he looks upon theft with horror; he loves the place of his birth. A stranger to every desire for wealth, he lives contented with a little in the midst of a fertile country where three harvests a year cover the ground, which is sown but not tilled. The inhabitants of the country round Vera Cruz are in general robust and well made. ”

“ The poorer inhabitants of Vera Cruz were also ascertained to be in a. suffering condition, and ten thousand rations were directed to be issued for their relief; thus presenting a singular feature in warfare — the victors feeding the vanquished, with the stores brought hundreds of miles for their own sustenance and support.
On the 30th instant a detachment of troops under General Quitman left Vera Cruz to co — operate with the squadron under Commodore Perry, in a joint attack upon Alvarado. ”

“ Dorantes."
"Is that so?" exclaimed Adrian. "I know Gen. Dorantes well. He is a fine man. But you will soon be avenged, for Huerta's days are short."
The woman's eyes snapped.
"Es verdad?" meaning, "Is it true?"
"It certainly is. Since the Americans have taken Vera Cruz, Gen. Huerta will have to go. It is only a question of a few days."
"Bienissimo! The Americans are brave men! My Leocadio was fond of the Americans."
"I am glad of that, señora, for I am an American." ”

“ He was very expert in various matters, and was successful in his undertakings, and hence again obtained the command of Vera Cruz, though he was not a very good soldier. Cortes, well acquainted with the man's character, that he was not one of the most courageous, said to him, in giving him the appointment, rather [Pg 256] jokingly, "Your desire of going to Vera Cruz, Alonso de Grado, is about to be fulfilled. There you must continue the building of the fortress with assiduity ”

“ The latter was made inspector-general of all the troops called to the succor of Vera Cruz. Panes, Vir., in Monum. Dom. Esp., MS., 119-20. ↑ At this time was brought to Vera Cruz from Campeche a 'religioso servita,' who pretended to have visited Yucatan to procure shoes for the English. Several papers and drawings of Spanish ports being found on his person, he was taken to Mexico as a spy, and with the approval of the audiencia thrown into jail. This confinement of a priest with common criminals was objected to by the archbishop, who claimed the ecclesiastic immunity ”

“ Doubtless, ere this, the zündnadel has slain many a “grisly b’ar” among the wild ravines of the Rocky Mountains.
Courteous reader! I was about to write the word “adieu”, when “Little Jack” handed me a letter, bearing the Vera Cruz post-mark. It was dated, “La Virgen, November 1, 1849.” It concluded as follows:
“You were a fool for leaving Mexico, and you’ll never be half as happy anywhere else as I am here. ”