Veracruz

“ On quitting the beach with our whole caravan in marching order, we followed a path, which, after winding for about a league amongst the sand-hills by which Veracruz is surrounded, joined the road to Santa Fé, a village at which, although only three leagues from Veracruz, we had agreed to rendezvous, and pass the night. It was seven in the evening before I reached it, and eleven at night before the carriages appeared. I found them imbedded in the sand about a league from Veracruz, with the coachmen stretched at full length by the side of their mules, and fast asleep ”

“ As we breasted the Veracruz lighthouse, the shoulder of a Norther heaved itself against the side of the vessel, the ocean streamed in at the lower portholes and the quarters of the unhappy exiles were flooded with water. ”

“ On the sloping ground, which descends from the foot of Ŏrĭzāvă to the sea, are situated the towns of Cōrdŏvă and Ŏrĭzāvă, which are celebrated for the tobacco and coffee raised in their vicinity. The same district produces the best Vanilla, as well as the Jalap, and Sarsaparilla, which have been mentioned amongst the exports of Veracruz. A few Indian villages are scattered over this rich country, in every part of which but little exertion is required on the part of man in order to draw a subsistence from the exuberant fertility of the soil. ”

“ We found the Old Veracruz causeway in a sufficiently good state of preservation between Jălāpă and Lăs Vīgăs, to afford an easy passage even for carriages; the horses and mules, however, suffer exceedingly in the steeper parts of the ascent, from the difficulty of getting a good footing on the hard pavement. ”

“ The whole country remembers, undoubtedly, the afflicting circumstances which surrounded the Constitutional Government in the early days of its permanence at Veracruz, when dismay reigned all over the districts subjected to the Church party, and where, it is a fact, the liberals did not abound as they do to day. ”

“ The abolition of the Register ships, and the freedom of communication allowed with most of the principal ports of the Peninsula, put an end to the exclusive monopoly of Mexico, and induced a number of Spanish capitalists to establish themselves at Veracruz, which continued to be, under the new system, what it had been under the old, viz: the only port of entry on the Atlantic side of the Mexican dominions. ”

“ Thus Veracruz, which, (after leaving the sea-coast,) in variety of productions, and fertility of soil, can be surpassed by no district of equal extent in the world, has a population not exceeding 250,000 individuals of every description, of whom it is supposed that not more than two-fifths are employed in the cultivation of a space of 4,141 square leagues: the remainder are inhabitants of the towns, either engaged in trade, or living in idleness. Nearly the same results would be given by an enquiry into the amount and distribution of the population upon the Western Coast ”

“ The Streets of Veracruz are streight as a Line; the Houses are handsome and regular; the Fortifications next the Land inconsiderable, but the Front of the Town next the Sea forms a Semicircle, with a little Fort at each End. Directly before that Front, a Quarter of a League out at Sea, there stands, on a Spot of Ground, inaccessible, by Reason of the Breaking of the Sea, a strong Citadel, well built and furnished with all Necessaries, a good Garrison and double Batteries of two hundred Pieces of brass Cannon. ”

“ Veracruz in New Spain. The latter of those Towns is the Port of New Spain, at the Bottom of the Bay or Gulf, in 18 Degrees of North Latitude, Seated in a Sandy Plain, encompass’d with 207Mountains; beyond which there are Woods and Meadows, well Stock’d with Cattle and wild Fowl: the flesh whereof is stringy and tasteless. The Air is very Hot, and not Healthy, when any Winds blow, except the North, which rises commonly once in Eight or Fifteen Days, and holds for the Space of Twenty Four Hours, blowing so hard, that there is no going ashore from the Ships, and then the Cold is very piercing. ”

“ Notwithstanding General Victoria's wish to expedite our departure, several days elapsed before the arrangements for our journey could be completed. We found the greatest difficulty in procuring mules for our baggage, or horses for ourselves; for the trade of Veracruz having been transferred to Alvarado, a general emigration of the population had taken place, with the exception of a few sickly-looking families, which had established themselves in tents in the midst of what was once a wood of cocoa-nut trees, [2] a little beyond the range of the shells from the Castle. ”

“ Even in the present improved state of the communications, they are a continual source of embarrassment on a journey, for English axletrees are not at all adapted to Mexican roads, and if a wheel or a spring be injured, there is no possibility of getting it repaired: but in 1823, there was hardly a single league between Veracruz and Pĕrōtĕ, in which some vexatious delay did not occur to make us regret that we had burthened ourselves with such incumbrances at all. ”

“ Besides, there was enough in the islands wherewith to occupy themselves. Therefore, they wrote to the father-provincial of Nueva España—at that time Maestro Veracruz, a man of the letters and holy life that is known—asking him to take the matter up with the viceroy.73 He favored this plan, chiefly because in it was evidenced the great liberality of Ours, in not keeping the bread, which the Lord had given them, but dividing it with love with their other companions; and this fraternal [228] spirit of the orders is a good thing. ”

“ About the Town of Veracruz, there are Bushes of a Sort of Thorn, without Leaves, among which grows an extraordinary Plant; for tho’ it has but a small Stem, it shoots out Leaves of a Cabbage Green, as thick as a Man’s Finger, which grow out, one at the End of another, in the Shape of a Racket, and the Plant itself is so call’d. ”

“ John of Uloa was so small, and the climate of Veracruz so dangerous, that the Mexican force consisted merely of men enough to work the batteries, which had been constructed in the hope of making some impression upon the Castle, the bomb-proof casemates of which would have bid defiance to any such attempt, had not hunger and disease lent their powerful assistance to the besieging force without. ”

“ We remained three whole days at Jălāpă, in hourly expectation of the arrival of carriage-mules, which had been sent for to Lă Pūēblă, as it was impossible for us to proceed any farther with those which had brought us with so much difficulty from Veracruz. At last they came, and on the 24th we recommenced our journey. We had had ample opportunity in the mean time to admire both the beauty of the scenery in the environs of Jălāpă, and the hospitality of the Natives. All the Creoles eagerly sought our acquaintance, and omitted nothing that could render our stay agreeable ”

“ The plantations of Cuernavaca, were all worked, in the first instance, by slaves, who were purchased at Veracruz, at from three to four hundred dollars each. The difficulty of ensuring a sufficient supply during a war with a maritime power, and the number of slaves who perished from the sudden change of climate on the road from the coast, induced several of the great proprietors to endeavour to propagate a race of free labourers, by giving liberty to a certain number of slaves annually, and encouraging them to intermarry with the native Indians, which they soon did to a very great extent. ”

“ Yet masses of scoria, and districts covered with lava, are found in every part of the Federation; in the vicinity of the Capital, on the road to Guanajuato, in parts of San Luis, between Sombrerete and Durango, throughout Valladolid, and on the ascent from Veracruz, between Jalapa, Jilotepec, and Las Vigas, as well as in the plains of Tepeyagualco; while everywhere their vast extent proves that the convulsions which produced them must have been fearful indeed. ”

“ During this season, the Government couriers are changed at Jalapa, and no one, who is not compelled to do so by business of the most urgent nature, thinks of visiting the Tierra Caliente. Commerce is nearly at a stand; and it is only upon the approach of the autumnal equinox that business begins to be again transacted with any sort of activity. From the middle of October till the end of March, if the winter be not unusually mild, Veracruz, though never a safe, is at least not a very dangerous residence. ”

“ The integral parts of the Federation are: the States of Aguascalientes, Colima, Chiapas, Chihuahua, Durango, Guanajuato, Guerrero, Jalisco, Mexico, Michoacan, Nuevo Leon and Coahuila, Oajaca, Puebla, Querétaro, San Luis Potosi, Sinaloa, Sonora, Tabasco, Tamaulipas, Tlascala, Valle de Mexico, Veracruz, Yucatan, Zacatecas, and the Territory of Lower California. Article 44. The States of Aguascalientes, Chiapas, Chihuahua, Durango, Guerrero, Mexico, Puebla, Queretaro, Sinaloa, Sonora, Tamaulipas, and the Territory of Lower California shall preserve the limits which they now have. ”

“ The total registered population of Veracruz appears by the above statements to be 233,705 souls.
The receipts, from October 1824, to December 1826, amounted to 650,657 dollars, and the expenditure to 350,796 dollars. [7]
From the State of Ŏăxācă I have been unable to obtain returns similar to those given respecting other parts of the Federation. Agriculture is highly favoured by the mildness of the climate, which produces both cerealia and the sugar-cane; but of the mineral riches of the province very little is known. Mr. ”

“ 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. ”

“ Somewhat farther to the south, the eye passes across the beautiful plains lying around the city of Puebla de los Angeles, founded by the old Spaniards, and still rivalling, in the splendor of its churches, the most brilliant capitals of Europe; and far in the west he may behold the Valley of Mexico, spread out like a map, with its diminished lakes, its princely capital rising in still greater glory from its ruins, and its rugged hills gathering darkly around it, as in the days of Montezuma. ”

“ 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. ”

“ Exceedingly rough hill and mountain work presents itself, first, in securing egress from the valley of Mexico itself, and again in the States of Guanajuato, Zacatecas, and Durango. Intervening between these ridges are broad valleys and immense plains, which offer few obstacles to the railway constructor of the present day. The region, throughout the entire distance traversed by the trunk line, is the healthiest in the world; but the coast termini of its Gulf and Pacific branches are in a climate not noted for its salubrity. ”

“ 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. ”

“ The plan proposed was the creation of intendencias in Mexico, Puebla, Vera Cruz, Yucatan, Oajaca, Valladolid, Guanajuato, San Luis Potosí, Nueva Galicia, Durango, Sonora, and Sinaloa, New Mexico, and the Californias, with a gobernador intendente at the head of each, charged with the four important branches of the public service, namely, government and police, justice, treasury, and war. Excepting those of Mexico, Vera Cruz, Yucatan, and Sonora, they were to have also the patronato real. ”

“ The great State of Vera Cruz, of which this city is the commercial emporium, comprises the central portion of the Gulf coast of Mexico, and lies mainly in the hot country producing the fruits and vines of the tropics. Throughout its whole extent bordering the coast, it maintains a reputation for insalubrity, and is undesirable to live in. As a place of refuge from the heat and vomito, and the insect plagues that sometimes annoy the inhabitants of the coast, the town of Jalapa—pronounced Halápa—has an extensive reputation. ”

“ The two intendancies New Biscay and Sonora, then part of San Luis Potosi, belonged to the provinces of Coahuila and Texas. The interior provinces of the viceroyalty were the intendancy of San Luis Potosi, including the provinces of New Leon and New Santander. The actual kingdom of New Spain was composed of the intendancies of Mexico, Puebla, Vera Cruz, Guadalajara, Valladolid, Zacatecas, Guanajuato, Oajaca, Merida, and San Luis, proper, and the two Californias. ”