Mexico in 1827

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Pasaje No.

San Juan de Dios | La Sta. Vera Cruz | Iztaccihuatl | Cathedral | Popocatepetl | Artillery barracks

From the Azotea of the House of His Majesty's Mission, San Cosme

MEXICO IN 1827.

BY

H. G. WARD, ESQ.

HIS MAJESTY'S CHARGÉ D'AFFAIRES IN THAT COUNTRY

DURING THE YEARS 1825, 1826, AND PART OF 1827.

IN TWO VOLUMES.

VOL. I.

LONDON:

HENRY COLBURN, NEW BURLINGTON STREET. 1828.

Preface

PREFACE.

It is difficult for a person who is desirous to lay before the Public an impartial view of the present state and capabilities of Mexico, to determine exactly at what point to commence his undertaking.

Three years ago, nothing was questioned that could tend to enhance the opinion entertained of its resources. Now, the most cautious assertions are received with a smile, and facts, however well demonstrated, are hardly admitted to be such, if they militate against a preconceived opinion.

This state of things is, perhaps, the natural consequence of the advantage that was taken of the first removal of those barriers, which so long separated the Old World from the New, by men, some of whom were themselves enthusiasts, while many had no better object than to turn the enthusiasm of others to account. Both, unfortunately, concurred in exciting the imagination of the ignorant by pictures of a state of things, that could have no foundation in nature or truth.

Viewed through the medium of delusive hope, Spanish America presented nothing but prospects of unalloyed advantage. Great and instantaneous success was to attend every enterprise there, without the employment of those means, upon which the experience of the world has hitherto proved success to depend. Time, industry, perseverance, a knowledge of the scene upon which operations were to commence,—of the men by whom they were to be conducted,—of the language and peculiarities of the country, in which they were to be carried on; all these were stated to be considerations of minor importance; capital alone was represented as wanting; and facts, important in themselves, were so warped and distorted, in order to favour this theory, that when its fallacy was demonstrated, the facts fell to the ground with the superstructure which had been raised upon them.

Unexampled credulity amongst the disappointed, was succeeded by obstinate unbelief. Transatlantic States and adventures were involved in one indiscriminate condemnation; and, even at the present day, enterprises of the greatest public utility are stigmatised as bubbles, because, during a period of unbridled speculation, bubbles may have been recommended by a similarity of form to the notice of the public.

It is possible, that on a closer examination of the subject, we may find that the expectations of 1824, and the despondency of 1828, originate in the same cause,—namely, a want of proper data for the regulation of our opinions; and it is the hope of being able to supply these data, with regard to one very interesting portion of the former dominions of Spain, that has induced me to undertake my present task.

If I have exceeded, in the execution of it, those bounds, within which works of an ephemeral nature, (and such all accounts of a new and rising country must be,) are usually confined, I must allege, as my excuse, the impossibility of assuming, amongst the generality of my readers, an acquaintance with any part of my subject, without rendering unintelligible what I have to communicate with regard to the rest.

So little attention has been hitherto paid to Ame affairs, that I generally find the vast territories now distributed amongst the New States, classed as provinces, or counties, belonging to one kingdom, and not as empires occupying half a world. I have been asked repeatedly, since my return to England, whether Captain Head's description of the Pampas is correct, although Mexico is nineteen degrees North, and Buenos Ayres thirty-four degrees South of the line; while men well read, and well informed upon every other subject, have expressed surprise that, after a residence of three years in the Capital of New Spain, I should not be intimately acquainted with the state of parties in Lima and Santiago, Bolivia and Bogota.

Under these circumstances, I have conceived that it ought to be my object to combine as much information as possible in my present work, and thus to render it independent of those which have preceded it, by entering into details, a knowledge of which could not have been derived from other sources, without a perpetual and harassing reference to authorities, many of which are not within the reach of the public in general.

For instance, in addition to the Essai Politique of Baron Humboldt, to which I have expressed my obligations in another place, I have drawn largely from the Español; whose eloquent author, Mr. Blanco White, has embodied not only the most curious collection of State-papers now extant, with regard to the period at which the tendency towards Independence first began to appear in the Spanish Colonies, but a mass of reflections upon American affairs, so moderate, so judicious, and so admirably adapted to the circumstances of the times, that, had his counsels been listened to by the contending parties, no small portion of the calamities which have since befallen them might have been averted.

I have likewise made free use, in my sketch of the Revolution, of the Cuadro Historico of Don Carlos Bustamante, as well as of Robinson, Brackenbridge, and a number of other works published in the United States, and but little read in England, from each of which I have taken whatever my own observations pointed out as correct.

The whole will, I think, be found to indicate with sufficient clearness the causes of the American Revolution; and these, again, are the best guarantee for its stability.

The subject is one of deep and universal interest; for it is upon the duration of the new order of things that the prospects of the rising States depend. The Revolution has affected not only their political, but their commercial relations with the rest of the world; its influence has extended to their agriculture and mines, to both of which, after threatening them with total annihilation, it has given a fresh impulse, and opened a new and more extensive field. But liberty can alone repair the evils which the struggle for liberty has caused; and to ascertain the probability of its permanency is consequently a first step towards the consideration of its effects.

I have endeavoured to trace their operation in Mexico upon each branch of the great interests of the State, but more particularly upon the Mines; the importance of which, both to New Spain and to Europe, it has been one of my principal objects to develope.

As my views upon this subject differ materially from those generally entertained, I think it right to state, most distinctly and unreservedly, that the situation which I had the honour of filling in Mexico, rendered it impossible for me to take any other interest in the issue of the enterprises, by which I was surrounded, than that which I could not but feel, in operations in which British capital to so large an amount is invested.

I never have possessed a single Mining share; yet, from circumstances stated in the body of my work, I have, perhaps, seen more of the mines of New Spain, and am in possession of more data, with regard to their former produce, than the majority of those, whose fortunes depend upon the result of the present attempt to work them by foreign capital.

With regard to my opinion of their present prospects, the public is now in possession of the data upon which it is formed, and may rectify any errors in which I may inadvertently have been betrayed. Convinced that publicity ought to be desired by all the Mining Companies, as the only security against those suspicions, by which their credit has been so frequently shaken, I have laid before the world, without reserve, the whole of the information now in my possession respecting them, together with my own observations upon the mode in which their affairs have been directed. The result will, I trust, be to produce an impression that these great undertakings have been, in many instances ably, in all, honestly conducted; that if errors have been committed, they are errors which it was extremely difficult to avoid; and that although the investments are large, the magnitude of the object, (demonstrated by records of a very recent date,) bears a fair proportion to the magnitude of the stake.

It now only remains for me to add, that the map annexed to the First Volume, though compiled from very incorrect data, (there being few even of the principal places in New Spain, the latitude and longitude of which have as yet been exactly fixed,) will be found to be of use in many essential points.

It gives the new territorial division of the country into States, with the names of the "Partidos," or districts, into which those States are divided; and it likewise rectifies many local errors, both in the Central and Northern Provinces; Colonel Bourne, a gentleman recently returned from Sonora and Cinaloa, having been so obliging as to furnish me with a great deal of valuable statistical information respecting those States.

In the Map of Routes, attached to the Second Volume, I have to express my obligations to Mr. Beaufoy, for the assistance, which he has afforded me, by furnishing me with a copy of his routes in the vicinity of the Capital, and from thence to Tampico and Veracruz. With the exception of the expedition to the South of Valladolid, we both passed over the same ground; but it will be seen that in my journey North, where I had nothing but my own remarks to guide me, I have been unable to enter into as many details as in my visits to the Central districts of Tlalpujahua, Temascaltepec, and Real del Monte, where I had the benefit of Mr. Beaufoy's observations in addition to my own.

The distances are estimated in general by the reputed number of leagues, and time, combined.

The rivers are merely laid down where they in the road, the course of most being little known.

The mountains are traced in a similar manner, nor is it attempted to connect the two great branches of the Sierra Madre, by filling up the intervening space, although their direction may be easily perceived.

The heights are taken from Humboldt, wherever he has given them, with the toises reduced to English feet; to which are added those of Real del Monte, the Doctor, Catorce, Zacatecas, and Bolaños, as measured by General Wavel, Captain Wilde, Mr. Glennie, and Dr. Coulter.

The drawings were all taken upon the spot; many of them under circumstances which would have discouraged most persons from making the attempt, as fatigue and a burning sun often combined to render it unpleasant. I mention this in justice to Mrs. Ward, whose name, in conformity to custom, appears upon the plates, for all of which I am indebted to her pencil.

With regard to the general tone of my work, which will be found to differ materially from that adopted in some recent publications, I shall make no apology for this want of coincidence between my views and those of my predecessors. I have met with much kindness in Mexico, and should be sorry to think that this kindness emanated entirely from my public situation, which was an advantage only in as far as it brought me into more general and immediate contact with the natives. Upon this my opinions of their character are founded. To write either a satire upon human nature in general, or a criticism upon those peculiarities of manner, in which foreigners differ from ourselves, was not my object. The first I might have accomplished without leaving home; and had my happiness depended upon the second, I should have been a very miserable man during fourteen years of my life, nearly the whole of which I have passed abroad. I confess, therefore, that it has been my pleasure to dwell rather upon the good than the bad, and to separate the valuable parts of the national character from the scum and dross, which a long period of misrule, followed by the total dissolution of all social ties, could hardly fail to bring to the surface. If I have succeeded in this attempt, my reward will consist in the gratification of thinking that the labours of the last six months may have some tendency to confirm that good understanding between Great Britain and Mexico, which, during the two preceding years, it was my anxious wish to promote.

Contents

CONTENTS

OF

THE FIRST VOLUME.

Illustrations

ILLUSTRATIONS.

VOL. I.

|View of Mexico from the Azotea of the House of His Majesty's Mission at San Cosme | |Frontispiece.

|Agave Americana, or Maguey | Page 60

|The Cañada de Marfil, or Entrance to Guanajuato | 161

|Puente del Rey | 227

|Church of N. S. de Guadalupe | 326

|Map of Mexico, to be inserted at the end of the First Volume, after the Appendix.

VOL. II.

| View of Jalapa | |Frontispiece.

|Chapultepec | 232

|Chapingo | 297

|Arrastre | 434

|Galera of the Hacienda of Salgado | 436

|Patio of the Hacienda of Salgado | 438

|Ascent to Catorce | 484

|Interior of Indian Hut at the Bozal | 522

|Map of Routes to the principal Mining Districts, to be inserted at the end of the Second Volume.

WOOD-CUTS.

|A Litter | 264

|Boat | 372

|A Mexican Coach | 404

|Entrance to the Socabon (Adit) of La Purisima, at Catorce | 492

|Indian Hut | 518

Chapter 1

MEXICO IN 1827.

BOOK I.

SECTION I.

BOUNDARIES.—GEOLOGICAL STRUCTURE. CLIMATE.

The Republic of Mexico, which comprises the whole of the vast territory formerly subject to the Viceroyalty of New Spain, is bounded to the East and South-east by the Gulph of Mexico and the Caribbean Sea; to the West by the Pacific; to the South by Guatemala, which occupies a part of the Isthmus of Darien; and to the North by the United States.

The exact line which separates the provinces of Las Chiapas and Tabasco from the territory of Guatemala, has not yet been fixed, but is at present the subject of amicable discussion between the two governments. To the North, the frontier is defined, with sufficient exactness, by the treaty of Washing , the validity of which, since the declaration of Independence, has been tacitly acknowledged both by Mexico, and the United States.

According to the third article of this treaty, the boundary line between Mexico and Louisiana (then ceded by Spain to the United States) commences with the River Sabinas, which runs into the Gulph of Mexico, about lat. 29, West long. 94, and follows its course as far as its junction with the Red River of Natchitoches, which then serves to mark the frontier up to the 100th degree of West longitude, where the line runs directly North to the River Arkansas, which it follows to its source, in the 42d degree of North latitude, from whence another direct line is drawn (immediately upon the forty-second parallel) to the coast of the Pacific; thus dividing between the two rival republics the whole Northern continent of America, with the exception of the British Colonies.

A reference to the accompanying map will explain this seemingly complicated arrangement, which at present is of but little importance, except with regard to the Eastern coast; as between the frontier established, and the last settlements of the Americans and Mexicans to the North and West, a vast space intervenes, tenanted only by Indian tribes, who have never yet been subdued, and over whom neither of the two governments possesses the slightest authority. With the exception of a narrow belt of missions in New California, on the Western coast, which terminates with the port of San Francisco in lat. 36, and the isolated province of New Mexico, the capital of which (Santa Fé) is situated in the same parallel as San Francisco, the whole country contained between 28° and 42° of North latitude, is unappropriated by any white population, and almost unknown; and centuries must elapse before the civilization of America can increase sufficiently to give it any value. It will, probably, be one of the last strong holds of man in a semibarbarous state; for it is in this direction that the Indians, who have been driven from the valley of the Missisippi by the rapid emigrations, which have taken place, during the last twenty years, from the old Atlantic Anglo-American states, are now retiring.*

On the North-eastern frontier the case is different, for there the rich and beautiful province of Texas might prove a source of contention, did not the two governments wisely determine to remove all motives of difference, by abiding by that arrange , to which (directly or indirectly) each has already given its consent.

It will be perceived, by this sketch of the Mexican territory, that, at the two most distant points of S.S.E. and N.N.W. (the southern extremity of Yucatan, and the boundary line, where it runs into the Pacific,) it extends over twenty-seven degrees of latitude, or 1876½ English statute miles. Its greatest breadth is in the parallel of 30 N. lat. where, from the Red River (Rio Colorado) of Texas, to the coast of Sŏnōră, Humboldt gives the distance at 364 leagues, of twenty-five to the degree.

Nothing can be more imperfect as yet, than our acquaintance with this vast country. Few even of the principal towns and rivers are correctly laid down, and consequently not even the elements of a good map exist. Humboldt has done much towards correcting the errors which prevailed before his time, but his personal observations were confined to a comparatively small circle, and upon those of others he could not rely. A little time, however, will now add considerably to our stock of information; for amongst the foreigners who are at present exploring the Mexican territory, there are some scientific men, who employ their leisure hours in taking observations, and tracing their route through the various parts of the country, which their avocations oblige them to visit. The result of their inquiries, when combined with the statistical information which the governments of the different States are labouring to collect, and the military surveys of the Estado Mayor, will be extremely valuable; and many years will, probably, not elapse, before the interior of Mexico will be as well known as that of most countries in the Old World.

The territory of Mexico presents, according to Humboldt, a surface of 118,478 square leagues, of twenty-five to the degree; but this estimate does not include the space between the Northern extremity of New Mexico and Sŏnōră, and the boundary line, as fixed more recently by the treaty of Washington, the extent of which is not yet well ascertained. Thirty-six thousand five hundred square leagues, comprising the states of Zăcătēcăs, Guădălajāră, Guănăjūātŏ, Vāllăadŏolīd, Mēxĭcŏ, La Pūēblă, Vĕrăcrūz, Oăxācă, and Mērĭdă, are within the Tropics, or, what is usually denominated, the torrid zone; while New Mexico, Dŭrāngŏ, New and Old California, Sŏnōră, and a great part of the old Intendancy of San Luis Pŏtŏsī, containing, in all,

. 82,000 square leagues, are without the Tropics, or under the temperate zone. The whole extent of the Republic is equal to one-fourth of Europe, or to France, Austria, Spain, Portugal, and Great Britain, put together; and the difference of latitude alone, on so enormous a surface, would naturally have the effect of causing considerable changes in the temperature of the more distant points.

It is not, however, to this circumstance, so much as to the peculiarity of its geological structure, that Mexico owes that singular variety of climate, by which it is distinguished from most other countries of the world.

To this I must call the particular attention of my readers, as, without a right understanding of its causes, a great part of the present sketch would prove unintelligible.

The Cordillera of the Andes, after traversing the whole of South America and the Isthmus of Panama, separates into two branches on entering the Northern continent, which, diverging to the East and West, but still preserving their direction towards the North, leave in the centre an immense platform, or Table-land, intersected by the higher points and ridges of the great mountain chain by which it is supported, but raised, in the more central parts, to the enormous height of seven thousand feet above the level of the sea.

This elevation it loses, in part, on its approach to the North, by the gradual disappearance of the Eastern branch of the Andes, which sinks nearly to a level with the ocean, about the 216th parallel of North latitude, as if to make way for those mighty rivers by which Tēxăs, Louisiana, and the Flŏrīdăs are watered: but to the West, the Cordillera continues in an almost uninterrupted line, through Dŭrāngŏ and Sŏnōră, towards the frontiers of the United States, where it splits into various ramifications, until its course is lost in the unknown regions of the North.

Upon the whole of this Table-land, the effect of geographical position is neutralized by the extreme rarification of the air; while upon the Eastern and Western declivities it resumes its natural influence as it approaches the level of the sea, until the strip or belt of flat country which extends from the base of the Cordillera to the ocean, is subject to the same degree of heat as that which prevails in the East or West Indies, or any other country similarly exposed to the rays of a tropical sun.

Thus Mēxĭcŏ, Guănăjūātŏ, Zăcătēcăs, and the other great towns upon the central plateau, enjoy a temperature entirely different from that of Vĕrăcrūz, Tămpīco, Ăcăpūlcŏ and Săn Blās, which are situated nearly in the same parallels on the Eastern and Western coasts; while the intervening space is filled up with almost every possible modification of heat.

On the ascent from Vĕrăcrūz, climates (to use Humboldt's expression) succeed each other in layers, (se suivent par couches;) and the traveller passes in review, in the course of two days, the whole scale of vegetation.

The parasitic plants of the Tropics are exchanged at a very early period for the evergreen oak, and the deadly atmosphere of Vĕrăcrūz, for the sweet, mild air of Jălāpă: a little farther, the oak gives place to the fir; the air becomes more piercing; the sun, though it scorches, has no longer the same deleterious effect upon the human frame; and nature assumes a new and peculiar aspect. With a cloudless sky, and a brilliantly pure atmosphere, there is a great want of moisture, and little luxuriancy of vegetation: vast plains follow each other in endless succession, each separated from the rest by a little ridge of hills, which intersect the country at regular intervals, and appear to have formed, at some distant period, the basins of an immense chain of lakes. Such, with some slight variations, is the character of the Table-land from Mexico to Chĭhūāhuă. Wherever there is water, there is fertility; but the rivers are few, and insignificant, in comparison with the majestic streams of the United States; and, in the intervals, the sun parches, in lieu of enriching the soil. High and barren plains occupy but too large a portion of the centre of the country, between Zăcătēcăs, Dŭrāngŏ and Săltīllŏ; nor does nature recover her wonted vigour, until the streams, which gradually filter from the Cordillera, are sufficiently formed to dispense moisture on their passage to the ocean. As the Eastern branch of the Cordillera disappears, or rather recedes towards the West, the space fertilized by these streams becomes more extensive; until in Texas, a country low, but well wooded, and rich in beautiful rivers, takes the place of the dreary Steppes of the interior.

The Rio Grande de Sāntĭāgŏ, which traverses the Băxīŏ, and empties itself into the Pacific, near San Blas, and the Rio Bravo del Norte, which enters the Gulph of Mexico in 26 North lat., are the two principal rivers of the Table-land: the last, indeed, hardly merits that title, as it pursues its course over a part of the country where the Eastern Cordillera is lost; but the first rises in the very centre of Mexico, and the district through which it passes is amongst the richest of the known world.

Humboldt gives 25 degrees of the centigrade thermometer (or 76 of Farenheit) as the mean heat of the coast, and 17° centigrade (64 Farenheit) as that of the Table-land. But, in a country so extensive as Mexico, any general theory upon this subject must be liable to great exceptions. A situation, so sheltered as to give additional force to the reflected rays of the sun, or too much exposed to the winds of the North-west, which sweep the country, at times, with incredible violence; a nearer approach to the Pacific side, (where the air is perceptibly milder;) the want, or abundance, of water; all these are circumstances which affect the temperature in the most opposite manner, even at the same height, and in the same parallel; and thus render it impossible, by the standard of elevation alone, to form any exact idea of the climate of the Table-land. Humboldt mentions the valley of Rio Verde, where sugar is raised with success at near four thousand feet above the degree of elevation which previous experiments had induced him to fix, as productive of the minimum of heat requisite for its cultivation; and I have myself seen a little spot, in the vicinity of Guădălajāră, which presents a similar phenomenon. In addition to these local peculiarities, which occur without there being any sensible difference in point of elevation to occasion them, every little break or descent in the surface of the Table-land, leads as naturally to an increase of heat, as the ascent from the coast does to a diminution of it. The transition is sometimes extremely sudden, for a deep ravine, or căñādă, is sufficient to occasion it. Thus, in the Căñādă of Qŭerētărŏ, and in the famous Barranca of Rēglă, at Real del Monte, both of which are situated in the centre of the Table-land, and nearly upon the same level as the Capital, a few-hundred yards change the face of nature entirely. The luxuriancy of Tropical vegetation replaces the stunted growth peculiar to the central plateau; the birds assume a more variegated plumage; the inhabitants a more relaxed and indolent expression; and the whole scene the characteristics of another world.

The same effects are produced wherever the same causes occur; and as, on a mountain chain, the inequalities of the surface are naturally very great, it is hardly possible to proceed to any distance, either to the East, or to the West of the Capital, without experiencing these transitions, which sometimes are met with repeatedly in the course of a single day. The natives, without inquiring into their origin, express the fact, by designating these hot, low ravines, as Tierra Caliente; a term which always implies a portion of the country, in which (from whatever causes) there is a sufficiency of heat to produce the fruits, and with the fruits, the diseases of the Tropics. Tierra fria (the cold country) is applied to the mountainous districts which rise above the level of the Capital, up to the limits of eternal snow; while Tierra templada (the temperate region) embraces, in its most general acceptation, all that is not included under one of the other two divisions. By many, however, it is thought to apply more particularly to a climate such as that of Jălāpă and Chilpănzīngŏ, (on the Eastern and Western ascent from the coast,) both of which are very much below the level of the Table-land: and I have myself found,

that whenever applied by the inhabitant of any one place to the temperature of any other, it implied an increase, and not a diminution, of heat. Thus, Jălāpă would certainly be called Tierra templada, by a native of Mexico, although Mexico might not perhaps be so termed by a native of Jalapa; while both would be designated in the same way by an inhabitant of Tierra fria, to whose district nature has assigned a degree of warmth much inferior to that of either of the other two.

Notwithstanding the arbitrary manner in which these terms are used, I shall frequently employ them in the course of this work; for, until a barometrical survey of the whole country has been executed, and the relative height of the principal points fixed, it would require a tedious explanation to give the ideas which the words Tierra caliente, and Tierra templada, are sure to convey. In order to illustrate still farther the peculiar character of the country, of which I fear that no words can furnish an adequate idea, I subjoin a sketch of Mexico, which, supposing it a bird's-eye-view, without any pretensions to geographical accuracy, may serve to show the relative position of the Tierra caliente and the Table-land, and to explain the variety of climate in the intermediate space.

The former division of New Spain into what was denominated the "Kingdom of Mexico," and the Eastern and Western Internal provinces, was never very distinct, and is now of little importance; as the Republic is distributed, under the present system, into States, of which the Federal government is composed. These states are nineteen in number, and commence to the South, with the Peninsula of Yŭcătān or Mērĭdă to the East; and Tăbāscŏ, Las Chĭāpăs, and Ŏăxācă to the South and West; which are followed in regular succession towards the North by Vĕrăcrūz, Tămăulīpăs, San Luis Pŏtŏsī, Nuevo Lĕōn, Cŏăhūilă, and Tēxăs, which comprise the whole territory to the frontiers of the United States, on the Gulph side: La Pūēblă, Mēxĭcŏ, Vāllădŏlīd, Guădălajāră, Sŏnōră, and Cĭnăloă, the Western extremities of which border on the Pacific; and Qŭerētărŏ, Guănăjūātŏ, Zăcătēcăs, Dŭrāngŏ, Chĭhūāhuă, and New Mexico, which occupy the centre of the country, and extend, between the two oceans, towards the Northern frontier. Beyond these again, are Old and New California, (which in some maps is called New Albion,) and the Indian territory, the extent and inhabitants of which are almost equally unknown. The two Californias and New Mexico are not yet admitted to the rank of independent States, their population not entitling them to be represented in the Congress. Each of the others returns a quota of deputies, in proportion to the number of its inhabitants.