Xalapa

“ Altotonga, the name of a settlement of Xalapa, in New Spain. The word signifies in the Mexican language, hot and saltish water, and this comes from the intermingled qualities of two streams which originate in a mountain near to each other, and form by their junction a river which runs into the lake of Alchichica.
Alzoui, a settlement of 190 Indian families, of Tlapa, in New Spain, or Mexico. They are industrious, cultivating maize, cotton, French beans and rice. ”

“ Xalapa was a town existing when the first Spaniards marched up these mountains, as is stated in their reports. Beyond it is the famous mountain of Perote, called by an Aztec name signifying casket, in Spanish cofre, from its rectangular shape, and near its base the town of Perote, where American prisoners were confined in 1847. Though we had looked anxiously for that plant from which the town derived its name, that tried friend of old-school physicians, jalap,—Ipomoea Jalapa,—we had not been successful. ”

“ After some leagues of travel over roads made nearly impassable by the summer rains, the troops began the gradual ascent—more gradual on the eastern than the western declivities of the Cordilleras—which leads up to the table-land of Mexico. At the close of the second day they reached Xalapa, a place still retaining the same Aztec name that it has communicated to the drug raised in its environs, the medicinal virtues of which are now known throughout the world. ”

“ A settlement of 850 families of Indians in the alcaldia of this name, embracing some 20 Spaniards and Mustees. In the vicinity are some excellent salt grounds. The climate is of a mild temperature, and the surrounding country is fertile, abounding in fruits, flowers, and pulse, and is well watered. It is 55 leagues E. S. E. of Mexico.
2. A settlement of 180 Indian families in Xalapa of the same kingdom, (now republic.) It occupies a spot of clayey ground of a cold moist temperature, in consequence of which, and its being subject to N. winds, fruits, in this neighbourhood, do not ripen. ”

“ President Santa Anna, with Generals Canalizo and Almonte, and some six or eight thousand men, escaped toward Xalapa just before Cerro Gordo was carried, and before Twiggs' division reached the national road above.
I have determined to parole the prisoners, officers and men, as I have not the means of feeding them here, beyond to-day, and cannot afford to detail a heavy body of horse and foot, with wagons, to accompany them to Vera Cruz. Our baggage train, though increasing, is not half large enough to give an assured progress to this army. ”

“ West India Isles of Spain, number of, political divisions, i. 179. Wheat, introduction of, into Quito, i. 305. ----, quantity cultivated in New Spain, i. 38. Whites, number of, in New Spain, i. 47. ----, number of, in Spanish America, ii. 319. Workmen and labourers in the Mexican mines often steal the metals, i. 44. X Xalapa, city of New Spain, gives its name to jalap, i. 39. Population, scite, climate, height, i. 147. Xaquijaguana valley, place where Gonzalo Pizarro was taken prisoner, ii. 144. Xarayes, lake of La Plata, ii. 162. Xauxa, district and town of Peru, ii. ”

“ The whole of Puebla is under the torrid zone; the western part is a mere desert, and the east, from the above named volcano to the borders of Vera Cruz, where there are beautiful plains filled with fields of maize, corn, sugar, cotton, fruit, &c., is the most populous, containing 813,300 souls. It is on this ridge or plain, that the most ancient monuments of the former state of the Mexicans exist, of which the greatest and most astonishing, is the pyramid or temple of Cholula, 177 feet high, with a base of 1420 feet in breadth. ”

“ The ancient capital of Chiapas rises on a narrow plateau more than 7,000 feet above the level of the ocean, with a population of some 12,000 inhabitants; its climate is colder and damper than that of Mexico, and if we except the church of S. Domingo, possesses no edifice of interest. The houses are all built on the same pattern, and few are more than one story high, with no outer ornamentation of any kind. It looks what it really is, a poor, miserable place.
The market of S. Cristobal is the only one in Mexico where bags of cocoa are still used as currency, as in the time of Montezuma. ”

“ At the foot of the spectator{*} lay the sacred city of Cholula, with its bright towers and pinnacles sparkling in the sun, reposing amidst gardens and verdant groves, which then thickly studded the cultivated environs of the capi{188}tal. Such was the magnificent prospect which met the gaze of the Conquerors, and may still, with slight change, meet that of the modern traveller, as from the platform of the great pyramid his eye wanders over the fairest portion of the beautiful plateau of Puebla. ”

“ The other towns of this State are:—Cholula, adjacent to the remains of the Pyramid of Cholula, which will be subsequently noticed;—Atlixco; Guauchinango, in the northern valley of the State, where the Indians still indulge in their ancient sport of the Juégo del Volador or flying game;—Tehuacan de las Granadas, containing near 6,000 inhabitants; Tepeaca or Tepéyacac, where Cortéz laid the foundations of a city which he called "Segura de la Frontéra;"—Huajocingo or Huexotzingo; Chiautla, Tlapan, Tlacotepec, Amozoqué, San Martin, Nopaluca, Acajete, Ojo de Agua. ”

“ The stranger is agreeably struck with the appearance of Puebla at first sight, and is confirmed in this impression as he becomes better acquainted with its mild and healthful climate, tempered by being more than seven thousand feet above the sea level, its wide, cleanly streets, running exactly east and west, north and south, its beautiful, flower-decked Plaza Mayor, its fine public squares, the interesting Moorish portales nearly surrounding the plaza, its gray old churches, and its neat stores and houses, having their various-colored fronts ornamented by iron balconies. ”

“ The slaughter was dreadful; the streets were covered with dead bodies, and houses and temples were burnt to the ground. This great temple was afterwards purified by his orders, and the standard of the cross solemnly planted in the midst. Cholula, not being on the direct road to Puebla, is little visited, and as for us, our time was now so limited, that we were obliged to content ourselves with a mere passing observation of the pyramid, and then to hurry forward to Puebla. ”

“ Cholula was of great antiquity, and was founded by the primitive race which occupied the land before the Aztecs. At the time of the conquest it was one of the most populous and flourishing cities of New Spain. “Nothing could be more grand than the view which met the eye from the truncated summit of the pyramid. Towards the north stretched the bold barrier of porphyry rock which nature has reared round the valley of Mexico, with the huge Popocatepetl and Iztaccihuatl standing like two sentinels to guard the entrance of this enchanted region. ”

“ The latter is about 200 feet square. It affords a fine view of the valley of Puebla. A chapel has been erected by the Mexicans on the platform of this great mound. It is built of brick and stone, with a dome and two towers; and the interior contains ornamental frescoes and decorations. It is called San Tuariol de los Remedios. Some vegetation is seen on the pyramid. It consists of the cactus, pito, and a few pirù trees. Several writers have suggested that the founders of the mound at Cholula may have had some design in building it near the lofty volcano of Popocatepetl,
Aztec Temple. ”

“ Beyond this the country became broken, arid, and barren, and very soon we commenced ascending a steep mountain. In two hours we reached the top, three or four thousand feet high, and, looking back, had a fine view of the plain and town of Zacapa. Crossing the ridge, we reached a bold precipitous spur, and very soon saw before us another extensive plain, and, afar off, the town of Chiquimula, with its giant church. ”

“ No more picturesque view can charm the eye of the weary traveller than is presented by the immense garden which forms the valley of Xauxa, which is forty square leagues in extent. Its two principal towns are Xauxa and Huancayo, in the centre of the valley is the convent of Ocopa, and the remaining population is scattered in small villages surrounded by trees on either side of the river of Xauxa, which flows through the valley. The mighty Andes bound the river on every side. ”

“ The churches are finer than those of any other Mexican town, and the streets are well paved. The houses are usually built with two stories, and arcades are found on the plaza mayor. There are twenty-six public squares and two parks in Puebla.
The adjoining city of Cholula was the headquarters of Cortes for several months during the Conquest. Pictures of some of the battles between the Spaniards and the natives may be seen on the walls of the hotels. Blankets, or zarapes, hats of straw and felt, soap, thread, crockery, and glass are manufactured in large quantities in Puebla. ”

“ Our guide showed us the ruins of the covered way to the Inquisition; for Puebla, no less than the city of Mexico, had a branch of this institution of the Church. Puebla has always been noted as a religious city; it was founded as an antidote to heathen Cholula, which is only a few miles away, and its full name is Puebla de los [Pg 378] Angeles—'Town of the Angels.' Before the Laws of the Reform went into force four-fifths of the valuation of real estate and other property in Puebla belonged to the Church, and one-fifth to private individuals. ”

“ Outside the city limits are a number of factories, Guadalajara being the chief centre for wool and cotton industries. Puebla, nestled among the cloud-capped summits overlooking the Gulf of Mexico, ranks next to the capital in size and importance. From this situation, seven thousand feet above the sea, is a magnificent outlook. The climate is unsurpassed even in this land of perpetual spring. Puebla is connected by a branch road with the railway from Vera Cruz to the capital. ”

“ Silently they marched, in silence the populace received them. The spectacle reminded very old men of the day the great Axaya’ was borne in mournful pomp to Chapultepec. Once only there was a cheer, or, rather, a war-cry from the warriors looking down from the terraces of a temple. So the cortege passed from the city; so, through a continuous lane of men, they moved along the causeway; so they reached the gates of Xoloc, at which the two dikes, one from Iztapalapan, the other from Cojohuaca, intersected each other. There they halted, waiting for Cortes. ”

“ PUEBLA, CHOLULA, TLAXCALA.
I.
You turn off from the junction of Apizaco, on the Vera Cruz railway, to go to the large, fine city of Puebla. It is the capital of the state of the same name, and has a population of about seventy-seven thousand. Many prosperous fábricas (factories) are seen along the fertile valley of approach; then the forts, attacked and defended on the great Cinco de Mayo, appear on the hills, looking down, like Mont Valerien and Charenton above Paris.
Certainly everything out of Mexico is not Cuatitlan. Puebla is very clean, well paved, and well drained. ”

“ But the cities of Yucatan and Chiapas, though geographically not far removed from the Mexican plateau, are brought by their small elevation above the sea into a very different climate. They are in the land of tropical heat and the rankest vegetation, in the midst of dense forests where pestilential fevers and overwhelming lassitude make it almost impossible for Europeans to live, and where the Indians who still inhabit the neighbourhood of the ruined cities are the merest savages sunk in the lowest depths of lazy ignorance. ”

“ The Indians of the province of Tlaxcala speak three languages, differing from one another, namely: the Mexican, Totonac, and Tlapanac. The first is peculiar to the inhabitants of Puebla, Cholula, and Tlascalla; the second to the inhabitants of Zacatlan; and the third is preserved in the environs of Tlapa. The population of the entire intendency of Puebla, in 1803, that is, ten years after the census above noted, had advanced to 813,300 in an extent of 2,696 square leagues, giving 301 inhabitants to the square league. ”

“ Six leagues south-west from Tlascala, and in the midst of a delightful valley, watered by a river which runs south-west to the Pacific Ocean, stands Puebla, the capital of an intendancy, and the see of a bishop. It is a large and regularly built manufacturing town, notorious for the profligacy of its inhabitants. ”

“ Terminating the vista down the avenue, rise the hill and castle of Chapultepec. Historic Chapultepec! From the days when Montezuma wandered beneath its shades and built his palace here, to those of the head of the last dead empire, it has been the chosen resort of successive rulers of Mexico. A glorious grove of giant trees surrounds the hill,—grand old cypresses hung with masses of Spanish moss, like those of the cypress swamps of Florida. Beneath them are traced walks and avenues, which are crowded on Sunday afternoons and on feast days, and are seldom solitary any day in the year. ”

“ The sun was obscured, but occasionally it broke through and lighted up the sides of the mountains, while the tops were covered with clouds. At four o'clock we had a distant view of the great plain of Zacapa, bounded on the opposite side by a triangular belt of mountains, at the foot of which stood the town. We descended and crossed the plain, which was green and well cultivated; and fording a stream, ascended a rugged bank, and entered the town. ”