 Later the 25th of life in Mexico. This is a LibriVox recording. All LibriVox recordings are in the public domain. For more information or to volunteer please visit LibriVox.org. Life in Mexico by Frances Calderón de la Barca. Later the 25th. Plan of the Federalists. Letter from Farias. Signing of Articles. Dispersion of the Pronunciados. Conditions. Orders of General Valencia. Of the Governor. Address of General Valencia. Departure of our guests. The Cosmopolite. State of the palace in the streets. Bulletin of the firing. Interior of houses. Escape of families. Conduct of the troops. Contest del VI. Santana. Congress. Anecdote. Discussion in Congress. Leprosy. 28th July. Today's published the plan which was formed by the Federalists for the political regeneration of the Republic. They observed that it is six years since the Federal plan adopted freely by the nation in 1824 was replaced by a system which monopolizes all advantages in favor of a few that evils had now arrived at that height in which the endeavors of a few men, however illustrious, could have no effect in remedying them. Rendering it necessary for all Mexicans to unite in one combined and energetic force to better their situation. That salvation can only be hoped for from the nation itself, etc. They then proceed to lay their plan consisting of ten articles before the public. The first restores the Constitution of 24, the national interests to be reformed by a Congress composed of four deputies from each state. By the second the reformed Constitution is to be submitted to the legislatures of the states for approbation. By the third they engage to respect the Catholic religion, the form of popular government, representative and federal, the division of powers, political liberty of the press, the organization of a military and naval force, and the equality of rights between all the inhabitants of the nation. By the fourth article a provisional government is to be established in the capital whose functions are to be limited exclusively to the direction of the external relations of the Republic. By the fifth this provisional government is to be vested in a Mexican, reuniting the requisites for this employment as established in the Constitution of 24. By the sixth the Republic promises to give back the ten percent added to the duties of consumption to those who have paid it until now. By the seventh in eight months after the triumph of the present revolution all interior custom houses are to be suppressed, and henceforth no contributions shall be imposed upon the internal circulation of goods, whether foreign or domestic. By the eighth they promise to confirm all the civil and military employments of those who do not oppose this political regeneration. By the ninth the army is to be paid with great punctuality. By the tenth a general amnesty is promised to all who have committed political error since the independence and the names of Farias and Yuria are followed by a goodly list of major generals, colonels, etc. There is also published a letter from Farias indignantly denying the report of the federal parties having threatened to seize the cathedral, jewels, and plate, accompanied by one from the Archbishop himself not only denying the circumstances but expressing his satisfaction with the conduct of the Federalist Party in regard to all the convents which they had occupied and the respect which they had shown towards all things pertaining to the Church. On the ninth of the twenty-six the articles of capitulation were signed on both sides, a letter from General Andrade having been received by General Valencia, to the effect that as General Yuria had abandoned the command of the troops and left it in his hands, he in the name of the other chiefs and officers was ready to ratify the conditions stipulated for by them on the preceding night. This was at three in the morning and about eight o'clock the capitulation was announced to the pronunciados in the different positions occupied by them and they began to disperse in different directions in groups of about a hundred crying, Vive la Federación. At a quarter before two o'clock, General Manuel Andrade marched out with all the honours of war to Talana Pantla, followed by the pronunciados of the palace. This morning at eleven, Tedouem was sung in the cathedral, there being present the Archbishop, the President, and all the authorities. The bells which have preserved an ominous silence during these events are now ringing forth in a confusion of tongues. The palace being crippled with balls and in a state of utter confusion, the President and his ministers occupy cells in the convent of San Augustine. The Federalists have marched out upon the following conditions. First, their lives, persons and employments and properties are to be involubly preserved. Second, General Valencia engages to interpose his influence with the government by all legal means that they may request the chambers to proceed to reform the constitution. Third, all political events which have occurred since the fifteenth up to this date are to be totally forgotten, the forces who adhere to the plan of the fifteenth being included in this agreement. Fourth, a passport out of the republic is to be given to whatever individual comprehended in this agreement may solicit it. Fifth, the troops of the pronunciados are to proceed to wherever General Valencia orders them commanded by one of their own captains whom he shall point out and who must answer for any disorders they may commit. Sixth, General Valencia and all the other generals of his army must promise on their honor before the whole world to keep this treaty and see to its exact accomplishment. Seventh, it only applies to Mexicans. Eighth, whenever it is ratified by the chiefs of both parties it is to be punctually fulfilled, hostilities being suspended until six in the morning of the twenty-seventh which gives time to ratify the conditions. The president may exclaim one such victory more and I am undone. Orders are issued by General Valencia to the effect that until the Federalist troops have marched out of the city no group passing five in number will be permitted in the streets, that until then there is to be no trading through the streets that at three o'clock the eating houses may be thrown open but not the taverns till the next day and that the police and alcaldes of the different wards are held responsible for the accomplishment of these orders and may make use of armed force to preserve order. The governor enforces these orders with additions. People must turn in at nine o'clock or give an account of themselves, must give up all their guns, carbines, etc to the alcaldes under a heavy penalty and none accepting military men may go on horseback from five in the evening until six in the morning during five days. General Valencia makes a pathetic address to soldiers and foretells that henceforth all mothers, wives and old men will point them out as they pass saying there go our deliverers and adds I grow proud in speaking to you inhabitants of this beautiful capital. He says again the aurora of the fifteenth of july was very different from that of the twenty seventh that prognosticated destruction this rises announcing happiness never again will you hear the crash of cannon but to celebrate the triumphs of your country or to solemnize your civic functions. May your words be prophetic and especially may you yourself assist in their accomplishment. Twenty ninth our guests have left us all but Monzeur Blanc who although recovered cannot yet be moved all money plate and jewels in our charge are restored to their rightful owners and the Spanish colors which have never been hoisted returned to their former obscurity. I reopen the piano uncover and tune the harp and as we have been most entirely shut up during thirteen days of heavenly weather feel rejoiced at the prospect of getting out again as yet I have not seen the state of things in the city but the cosmopolite of today says I should wish to have the pen of Jeremiah to describe the desolation and calamities of the city which has been the mistress of the new world in the days of mourning that have passed we have not been able to fix our eyes on any part of it where we have not encountered desolation weeping and death the palace has become a sieve and the southern bulwark is destroyed that part of the portal which looks toward the montereyah is ruined the finest buildings in the center have suffered a great deal innumerable houses at great distances from it have been also much injured by stray balls persons of all ages classes and conditions who interfered in nothing have been killed not only in the streets but even in their own apartments the balls crossed each other in every direction and the risk has been universal the city has been in the dark during these days without patrol or watch and many malfactors have taken advantage of this opportunity to use the murderous poignard without risk and with the utmost perfidy at the break of day horrible spectacles were seen of groups of dogs disputing the remains of a man a woman and a child the cosmopolitan goes on to insist upon the necessity of forming a new ministry and of every form in the two houses august first have just come in from a drive through the city the palace and houses near it are certainly in a melancholy condition the palace with its innumerable smashed windows and battered walls looks as if it had become stone blind in consequence of having the small parks broken windows and walls full of holes characterize all the streets in that direction yet there is less real damage done than might have been expected after such a furious firing and canonating to read the accounts published and of the truth of which we had our regular demonstration one would have expected to find half the city in ruins here is the sum total of the firing as published on the 15th firing from two o'clock till the next day on the 16th continual firing till one o'clock suspension till four o'clock firing from that hour without intermission till the following day 17th firing from morning till night 18th firing from before daybreak till the evening 19th continual firing constant emigration of families these last four days 20th continual firing all day skirmish at the gate of san lazaro 21st firing continued though less hotly but in the night with more vigor than ever 22nd day of the junta in the archbishop's palace firing began at 11 at night and lasted till morning 23rd firing till midday parley 24th formidable firing terrible attack and firing till morning 25th firing till the evening 26th firing from six in the morning till two o'clock capitulation that night as every bullet has its billet they must all have lodged somewhere of course nothing else is talked of as yet and everyone has his own personal experiences to recount some houses have become nearly uninhabitable glass pictures clocks plaster all lying in morsels about the floor and air holes in the roofs and walls through which these winged messengers of destruction have passed ladies and children escaped in many instances by the azoteas going along the street from one roof to another not being able to pass where the canon was planted the senor blank with her six beautiful boys escaped in that way to her brother's house in the evening and in the very thick of the firing i was in her drawing room today which has a most forlorn appearance the floor covered with heaps of plaster broken pictures bullets broken glass etc the windows out and holes in the wall that look as if they were made for the pipe of a stove to fit into the soldiers of both parties who have occupied the roofs of the houses behaved with great civility their officers on many occasions sending to the family with a request that they would complain of any incidents that might be shown by their men but no civility could ensure the safety of the dwellers in these houses the poor nuns have been terribly frightened and have passed these stormy nights in prayers and hymns which those who live near their convents save were frequently heard at midnight in the intervals of firing i went to see the countess de vie and she showed me the great hole in the wall by her bedside through which the shell made its entree the fragments are still lying there so heavy that i could not lift them all the windows at the head of that street are broken in pieces the shops are reopened however and people are going about their usual avocations pretty much as if nothing had happened and probably the whole result of all this confusion and destruction will be a change of ministry santa ana finding that he was not wanted has modestly retired to manha de clavo and has addressed the following letter to the minister of war the triumph which the national arms have just obtained over the horrible attempts at anarchy communicated to me by your excellency in your note of the 27th is very worthy of being celebrated by every citizen who desires the welfare of his country always supposing that public vengeance la vendicta publica has been satisfied and in this case i offer you a thousand congratulations this division although filled with regret at not having participated on this occasion in the risks of our companions in arms are rejoiced at so fortunate an event and hope that energy and a wholesome severity will now strengthen order forever and will begin an era of felicity for the country the happy event has been celebrated here in the fortress and in tepeya hualco where the first brigade had already arrived and whom i have ordered to counter march with every demonstration of joy i anxiously desire to receive the details which your excellency offers to communicate to me so that if the danger has entirely ceased i may return to my hacienda and may lay down the command of those troops which your excellency orders me to preserve here with sentiments of the most lively joy for the cessation of the misfortunes of the capital i reiterate to your excellency those of my particular esteem god and liberty antonio lopez de santana perote july 29 1840 the houses of congress are again opened the ministers presented themselves in the chamber of deputies and a short account of the late revolution was given by general al monte who by the way was never taken prisoner as was at first reported he had gone out to ride early in the morning when general yurea with some soldiers wrote up to him and demanded his sword telling him that the president was arrested for all answer al monte drew his sword and fighting his way through them galloped to the citadel yurea riding back passed by al monte's house and politely taking off his hat saluted the ladies of the family hoped they were well and remarked on the finest of the weather they were not a little astonished when a short time after they heard what had happened madame desi and her daughter were out riding when the firing began on the morning of the revolution and galloped home in consternation sevens a long discussion today in congress on the propriety of granting extraordinary powers to the president also a publication of the dispatch is written by gomez faria during the revolution he speaks with the utmost confidence of the success of his enterprise in his first letter he observes that general yurea with the greater part of the garrison and people of the capital have pronounced for the re-establishment of the federal system and have by the most fortunate combination of circumstances got possession of the palace and arrested the president that troops have been passing over to them all day and that the triumph of the federalists is so sure he has little doubt that the following morning will see tranquility and federalism re-established the different accounts of the two parties are rather amusing it is said that gomez faria's is concealed in mexico eighth paid a visit today where the lady of the house is a leper though it is supposed that all who are afflicted with the scourge are sent to the hospital of san lazaro we wrote before breakfast this morning to the old church of labiedad and on our return found a packet containing letters from london paris new york and madrid the arrival of the english packet which brings all these nuvotes is about the most interesting event that occurs here and of letter the 25th letter the 26th of life in mexico this is a libravox recording all libravox recordings are in the public domain for more information or to volunteer please visit libravox.org life in mexico by francis calderon de la barca letter the 26th visitors vergen de los remedios incarnación fears of the nuns santa tereza rainy season amusing scene esta a la disposición de vi mexican sincerity taxian vessels fine hair school mistress climate its effects nervous tour de force anniversary speech paseo san angelo takubaya army of the three guarantees plan of iguala a murder indian politeness drunkenness senor canedo revolutions in mexico the penon the baths general situation and view indian family of the boiling springs capabilities solitude capote peck the desirables penitence at san francisco discipline of the men discourse of the monk darkness and horrors salma gundi august 30th in the political world nothing very interesting has occurred and as yet there is no change of ministry yesterday morning cn set off in a coach and six for the valley of to luka about 18 leagues from mexico with a rich spaniard senor mr etn who has a large hacienda there last sunday morning being the first sunday since the revolution we had 40 visitors ladies and gentlemen english french spanish and mehican such varieties of dresses and languages i have seldom seen united in one room and so many anecdotes connected with the pronunciamento as related some grave some ludicrous that would form a volume the baron d blank having just left this for your part of the world you will learn by him the last intelligence of it and of us as there is a want of rain the very hinde los remedios was brought into mexico but as there is still a slight ripple on the face of the lately troubled waters she was carried in privately for all reunions of people are dreaded this juncture i had just prepared pieces of velvet and silk to hang on the balconies when i found that the procession had gone by a backstreet after sunset i went lately to visit the nuns of the incarnation to inquire how they stood their alarms for their convent had been filled with soldiers and they had been in the very heart of the firing i was welcomed by a figure covered from head to foot with a double black crepe veil who expressed great joy at seeing me again and told me she was one of the madres who received us before she spoke with horror of the late revolution and of the state of fear and trembling in which they had passed their time soldiers within their very walls and their prayers interrupted by volleys of canon thanks to the intercession of the verhin no accident had occurred but she added that had the version of los remedios been brought in sooner these disorders might never have taken place i went from vents to the convent of santa tereza where i saw no one but discourced with a number of voices from the shrill treble of the old madre prayora to the full cheerful tones of my friend madre e there is something rather awful in sending one's voice in this way into an unknown region and then listening for a response from the unseen dwellers there i have not yet been inside this convent but now that affairs are settled for the present i trust that the archbishop will kindly grant his permission to that effect the rainy season is now at its height that is it rains severely every evening but in the morning it is lovely the disagreeable part of it is that the roads are so bad it is difficult to continue our rides in the environs horse and rider after one of these expeditions appeared to have been taking a mud bath it is very amusing to stand at the window about four o'clock and see everyone suddenly caught in the most tremendous shower in five minutes the streets become rivers and canoes would be rather more useful than carriages strong porters cargadores are in readiness to carry well-dressed gentlemen or women who are caught in the deluge across the streets coachmen and footmen have their great coats prepared to draw on and all horsemen have their sarapes strapped behind their saddles in which with their shining leather hats they can brave the storm trusting to an occasional cessation of rain which sometimes takes place people continue to go out in the evening but it is downright cruelty to coachmen and animals unless the visit is to a house with a porte coachere which many of the houses have this amongst others september first had a dispute this morning with an englishman who complains bitterly of mehican insincerity i believe the chief cause of this complaint amongst foreigners consists in their attaching the slightest value to the common phrase esta a la disposición de vi everything is placed at your disposal house carriage servants horses mules etc the ladies earrings the gentleman's diamond pin the child's frock you admire a ring it is perfectly at your service a horse ditto letters are dated from your house de la casa de vi some from ignorance of the custom and others from navery take advantage of these offers which are mere expressions of civility much to the confusion and astonishment of the polite offerer who has no more intention of being credited than you have when from common etiquette you sign yourself the very humble servant of the very greatest boar it is a mere habit and to call people who indulge in it insincere reminds me of the italian mentioned somewhere by lady blessington who thought he had made a conquest of a fair englishwoman though somewhat shocked by her forwardness because in an indifferent note to him she signed herself truly yours shall i ever forget the crestfallen countenance of a mehican gentleman who had just purchased a very handsome set of london harness when hearing it admired by a frenchman he gave the customary answer it is quite at your disposal and was answered by a profusion of boughs and a ready acceptance of the offer the only difficulty with a frenchman being as to whether or not he could carry it home under his cloak which he did if all these offers of service in which it is mehican etiquette to indulge be believed in remember that i am here but to serve you my house and everything in it is quite at your disposal command me in all things we shall of course be disappointed by finding that notwithstanding these reiterated assurances we must hire a house for ourselves and even servants to wait on us but take these expressions at what they are worth and i believe we shall find that people here are about as sincere as their neighbors eighth a good deal of surmise because vortex and vessels are cruising in the bay of ferracruz there is also a good deal of political talk but i have no longer madame distal's excuse for interfering in politics which by the way is a subject on which almost all mehican women are well informed possessing practical knowledge the best of all like a lesson in geography given by traveling i fear we live in a paradise lost which will not be regained in our day my attention is attracted while i write but the apparition of a beautiful girl in the opposite balcony with hair of a golden brown hanging in masses down to her feet this is an uncommon color here but the hair of the women is generally very long and fine it rarely or never curls we were amused the other day in passing by a school of little boys and girls kept in a room on the first floor of senor blanks house to see the school mistress certainly not in a very elegant dishable marching up and down with a spelling book in her hand her long hair hanging down and trailing on the floor a good half yard behind her while every time she turned she switched it around like a court train you ask me about this climate for blank for one who like her is in perfect health i should think it excellent and even an invalid has only to travel a few hours and he arrives at tera caliente this climate is that of the tropics raised some thousand feet above the level of the sea consequently there is an extreme purity and thinness of the atmosphere which generally affects the breathing at first in some it causes an oppression on the chest on me it had little effect if any and at all events the feeling goes off after the first month or so there is a general tendency to nervous irritation and to inflammatory complaints and during september and october on account of the heavy rains and the drained lakes on which part of the city is built there is said to be a good deal of ague since the time of the cholera in 1833 which committed terrible ravages here there has been no other epidemic the smallpox indeed has been very common lately but it is owing to the carelessness of the common people or rather to their prejudice against having their children vaccinated the nervous complaints of the ladies are an unfailing source of profit to the sons of galen for they seem to be incurable having no personal experience in these evils i speak only from what i see in others it appears to me that the only fault of the climate consists in its being monotonously perfect which is a great drawback to easy and polite conversation the evening deluge is but a periodical watering of the earth from which it rises like venus from the sea more lovely and refreshed than ever cn has returned from to luka after an absence of eight days everyone is hurrying to the theater just now in spite of the rain to see some spaniards who are performing toward a fourth there 16 celebration of the day of independence anniversary of the glorioso grito de dolores of september the 16th 1810 of the revolution begun 30 years ago by the curate of the village of delores in the province of gunanahuato it is very easy celsa vala it is about the most sensible remark to put a country into combustion when it possesses the elements of discord but the difficulties of its reorganization are infinite a speech was made by general tornell in the alameda all the trips were out plenty of officers monks priests and ladies in full dress we did not go to hear the speech but went to the east house to see the procession which was very magnificent the line of carriages was so deep that i thought we should never arrive after all was over we walked in the alameda where temporary booths were erected and the trees were hung with garlands and flowers the paseo in the evening was extremely gay but i cannot say that there appeared to be much enthusiasm or public spirit they say that the great difficulty experienced by the junta named on these occasions for the preparation of these festivities is to collect sufficient funds 19th we went yesterday to san angelo one of the prettiest villages in the environs of mexico and spent the day at the hacienda of senor te which is in the neighborhood the rain has rendered the roads almost impassable and the country around mexico must be more like cortez's description of it at the season than at any other period one part of the road near the hacienda which is entirely destroyed the owner of the house wished to repair but the indians who claim that part of the land will not permit the innovation though he offered to throw a bridge over a small stream which passes there at his own expense 24th we passed a pleasant day at takubaya and dined with monsoor s who gave a fett in consequence of its being his wife sainte's day 27th great fett being the anniversary of the day on which the army called the trijarante the three guarantees entered mexico with the aturbide at their head the famous plan of iguala so called from having been first published in that city was also called the plan of the three guarantees freedom union and religion which were offered as a security to the spaniards against whom so many cruelties had been exercised we have had ringing of bells and firing all the morning and in the evening there is to be a bullfight followed by the exhibition of the tour de four of the spaniards commonly called here los hercules who have just come to offer us a box in the plaza this plan of the iguala was certainly the only means by which spain could have continued to preserve these fast and distant possessions the treaty of gordova which confirmed it was signed in that city between the spanish general odono ju and don august in your tour pide in august 1821 and consisted of seventeen articles by the first mexico was to be acknowledged as a free and independent nation under the title of the mehican empire by the second its government was to be a constitutional monarchy by the third ferdinand the seventh catholic king of spain was called the throne of mexico and should he renounce or refuse the throne it was offered to his brother the infant don carlos and under the same circumstances to each brother in succession by the fourth the emperor was to fix his court in mexico which was to be considered the capital of the empire by the fifth two commissioners named by odono who were to pass over to the spanish court to place the copy of the treaty and of the accompanying exposition in his majesty's hands to serve him as an antecedent until the court says should offer him the crown with all formality requesting him to inform the infantes of the order in which they were named interposing his influence in order that the emperor of mexico should be one of his august house for the interest of both nations and that the mehicans might add this link to the chain of friendship which united them with the spaniards by the sixth a junta of the first men in mexico first by their virtues position fortune etc was to be named sufficient in numbers ensure success in their resolutions by the union of so much talent and information by the seventh this junta takes the name of the administrative provincial junta by the eighth odono who was named number of this junta by the ninth this junta was to name a president by the tenth it was to inform the public of its installation and of the motives which had caused it to meet by the eleventh this assembly was to name a regency composed of three persons to compose the executive power and to govern in the name of the monarch until his arrival by the twelfth the hunda was then to govern conformably to the laws in everything which did not oppose the plan of a iguala until the courtes had formed the constitution of the state by the thirteenth the regency as soon as they were named were to proceed to the convocation of the courtes according to the method decreed by the provisional junta by the fourteenth the executive power was to reside in the regency the legislative in the courtes but until the reunion of the courtes the legislative power was to be exercised by the junta by the fifteenth all persons belonging to the community the system of government being changed or the country passing into the power of another prince were perfectly at liberty to transport themselves and their fortunes wherever they chose etc etc by the sixteenth this does not hold good in regard to the military or public employees disaffected to the mehican independence they will leave the empire within the term prescribed by the regency etc etc by the seventeenth and last as the occupation of the capital by the peninsula troops is an obstacle to the realization of the treaty this difficulty must be vanquished but as the chief of the imperial army desires to bring this about not by force but by gentler means general udonuhu offers to employ his authority with the troops that they may leave the capital without any effusion of blood and by an honorable treaty this treaty was signed by uturbide and udonuhu had this plan of ihuala taken effect what would have been the result in mehico what its present condition this being sunday and a fed day a man was murdered close by our door in a quarrel brought about probably through the influence of pulque or rather of shingwerite if they did not so often end in deadly quarrel there would be nothing so amusing as to watch the indians gradually becoming a little intoxicated they are at first so polite handing the pulque jar to their fair companions fair being taken in the general or pick wikian sense of the word always taking off their hats to each other and if they meet a woman kissing her hand we then humble bow as if she worried duchess but these same women are sure to be the cause of a quarrel and then outcome those horrible knives and then adios it is impossible to conceive anything more humble and polite than the common country people men and women stop and wish you a good day the men holding their hats in their hands and all showing their white teeth and faces lighted up by careless good nature i regret to state however that today there are a great many women quite as tipsy as the men returning home after the fed and increasing the distance to their village by taking a zigzag direction through the streets senor canido secretary of state has formally announced his intention of resigning certainly the situation of premier in mexico at this moment is far from enviable and the more distinguished and clearheaded the individual the more plainly he perceives impossibility of remedying the thickly gathering evils which crowded the political horizon revolution says senor de blank has followed revolution since the independence no stable government has yet been established had it been so mexico would have offered to our eyes a phenomenon unknown until now in the world that of a people without previous preparation passing at once to govern themselves by democratical institutions 28th we drove out to the pinion a natural boiling fountain where there are baths which are considered a universal remedy a pool of Bethesda but any special one for the rheumatic complaints the baths are a square of low stone buildings with a church each building containing five or six empty rooms in one of which is a square bath the idea seems to have been to form a sort of dwelling house for different families as each bath has a small kitchen attached to it like most great ideas of Spanish days it is now in a state of perfect desolation though people still flock there for various complaints when one goes there to bathe it is necessary to carry a mattress to lie down on when you leave the bath linen a bottle of cold water of which there is not a drop in the place and which is particularly necessary for an invalid in case of faintness in short everything that you may require a poor family lived there to take charge of the baths and there is a small tavern where they sell spirits and pulque and occasionally a padre comes on sunday to say mass in the old church we were amused by meeting there with hennadal blank and his family who had brought with them a whole coachload of provisions besides mattresses sheets etc the road to the pinion crosses the most dreary plain imaginable behind the baths are two volcanic hills and the view of mexico and of the great volcanoes from this is magnificent it is the most solitary of buildings not a tree to be seen in its environs these volcanic rocks behind mexico fronting it the great lakes near it to the right guadalupe to the left san angel san agustin and the mountains which bound the valley the indian family who live there are handsome savages and the girl who attended me at the bath spoke an extraordinary jargon half spanish half indian but was a fine specimen of savage good looks the water is extremely warm and my curiosity to try its temperature was very soon satisfied these boiling springs are said to contain sulfate of lime carbonic acid and muriate of soda and the indians make salt in their neighborhood precisely as they did in the time of montezuma with the difference as humboldt informs us that then they used vessels of clay and now they use copper cauldrons the solitary looking baths are ornamented with odd-looking heads of cats or monkeys which grin down upon you with a mixture of the sinister and facetious rather appalling the senor de blanc insisted on my partaking of her excellent luncheon after the bath we could not help thinking were these baths in the hands of some enterprising and speculative yankee what a fortune he would make how he would build a hotel a la saratoga would paper the rooms and otherwise beautify this uncouth temple of boiling water there is an indescribable feeling of solitude in all houses in the environs of mexico a vastness a desolation such as i never before experienced in the most lonely dwellings in other countries it is not sad the sky is too bright and nature too smiling and the air we inhale to pure for that it is a sensation of being entirely out of the world and alone with a giant nature surrounded by faint traditions of a pigon race and the feeling is not diminished when the silence is broken by the footsteps of the passing indian the poor and debased descendant of that extraordinary and mysterious people who came we know not whence and whose posterity are now hewers of wood and drawers of water on the soil where they once were monarchs in kapultepec especially near as it is to a large and populous city the traditions of the past come so strongly upon the mind that one would rather look for the apparition of a whole band of these inky-haired adder anointed priests of montezuma then expect to meet with a benevolent looking archbishop who in purple robes occasionally walks under the shade of the majestic cypresses all mehicans at present men and women are engaged in what are called the desahravios a public penance performed at the season in the churches during thirty five days the women attend church in the morning no men being permitted to enter and the men in the evening when women are not admitted both rules are occasionally broken the penitence of the men is most severe their sins being no doubt proportionally greater than those of the women though it is one of the few countries where they suffer for this or seem to act upon the principle that if all men had their desserts who should escape whipping today we attended the morning penitence at six o'clock in the church of san francisco the hardest part of which was they're having to kneel for about ten minutes with their arms extended in the form of a cross uttering groans a most painful position for any length of time it is a profane thought but i dare say so many hundreds of beautifully formed arms and hands were seldom seen extended at the same moment before gloves not being worn in church and many of the women having short sleeves they were very much seen but the other night i was present at a much stranger scene at the discipline performed by the men admission having been procured for us by certain means private but powerful accordingly when it was dark enveloped from head to foot in large cloaks and without the slightest idea of what it was we went on foot through the streets to the church of san augustine when we arrived a small side door apparently opened of itself and we entered passing through long vaulted passages and up steep winding stairs till we found ourselves in a small railed gallery looking down directly upon the church the scene was curious about one hundred and fifty men enveloped in cloaks and sarapes their faces entirely concealed were assembled in the body of the church a monk had just mounted the pulpit and the church was dimly lighted except where he stood in bold relief with his gray robes and cowl thrown back giving a full view of his high bold forehead and expressive face his discourse was a rude but very forcible and eloquent description of the torments prepared in hell for impenitent sinners the effect of the whole was very solemn it appeared like a preparation for the execution of a multitude of condemned criminals when the discourse was finished they all joined in prayer with much fervor and enthusiasm beating their breasts and falling upon their faces then the monk stood up and in a very distinct voice read several passages of scripture descriptive of the sufferings of christ the organ then struck up the miserere and all of a sudden the church was plunged in profound darkness all but a sculptured representation of the crucifixion which seemed to hang in the air illuminated i felt rather frightened and would have been very glad to leave the church but it would have been impossible in the darkness suddenly a terrible voice in the dark cried my brothers when christ was fastened to the pillar by the jews he was scourged at these words the bright figure disappeared and the darkness became total suddenly we heard the sound of hundreds of scourges descending upon the bare flesh i cannot conceive anything more horrible before ten minutes had passed the sound became splashing from the blood that was flowing i've heard of these penitences in italian churches and also that half of those who go there do not really scourge themselves but here where there is such perfect concealment there seems no motive for deception incredible as it may seem these awful penance continued without intermission for half an hour if they scourged each other their energy might be less astonishing we could not leave the church but it was perfectly sickening and had i not been able to take hold of the senora blank's hand and feel something human beside me i could have fancied myself transported into a congregation of evil spirits now and then but very seldom a suppressed groan was heard and occasionally the voice of the monk encouraging them by ejaculations or by short passages from scripture sometimes the organ struck up and the poor wretches in a faint voice tried to join in the miserly the sound of the scourging is indescribable at the end of half an hour a little bell was rung and the voice of the monk was heard calling upon them to desist but such was their enthusiasm that the horrible lashing continued louder and fiercer than ever in vain he entreated them not to kill themselves and assured them that heaven would be satisfied and that human nature could not endure beyond a certain point no answer but the loud sound of the scourges which are many of them of iron with sharp points that enter the flesh at length as if they were perfectly exhausted the sound grew fainter and little by little seized altogether we then got up in the dark and with great difficulty groped our way in the pitch darkness through the galleries and down the stairs till we reached the door and had the pleasure of feeling the fresh air again they say that the church floor is frequently covered with blood after one of these penances and that a man died the other day in consequence of his wounds i then went to the house of the blank minister where there was a reunion and where i found the company comfortably engaged in eating a very famous kind of German salad composed of herrings smoked salmon cold potatoes and apples salma gundi and drinking hot punch after the cold darkness and horrors of the church this formed rather a contrast and it was some time before i could shake off the disagreeable impression left by the desagravios and join in the conversation along with this you will receive some Mexican airs which i have written by ear from hearing them played and some of which i gave you the words in a former letter end of letter the 26 letter the 27th of life in Mexico this is a LibriVox recording all LibriVox recordings are in the public domain for more information or to volunteer please visit LibriVox.org life in Mexico by Francis Calderon de la Barca letter the 27th fed day friendly hint precautions general tranquility president in San Augustine revisit museum ancient manuscripts sculpture bronze bust etc freshness after rain ball at the french ministers pamphlet guccieres estrada his character concealment mejecal sigo minister of the treasury arch bishops permission paintings mehican painters santa tereza description of the interior the penitences the tortures disciplines etc supper profane ballots monasteries san francisco padre prior soldiers and friars october 3rd yesterday being zien's fed day we had a dinner and small soiree and according to custom visits the whole day a very agreeable guest from Havana don j a arrived to spend a few weeks with us we had rather a pleasant party and some good singing but just as dancing had begun cn took me aside and showed me a little friendly note which he had received while at dinner from henard l blank in which he informs him that the robbers would in all probability attack our respective houses that night that he had taken his precautions and advise a cn to do the same in the understanding that if necessary they should mutually assist each other a pleasant piece of intelligence the thing got whispered about and some of the ladies looked a little blank at the information but there could be no risk while so many persons were collected about one they went away and cn sent for some soldiers to keep watch all night nothing happened as no doubt the robbers found out what precautions had been taken the intended attack had been discovered by a servant of the generals who heard them discussing the matter in the back room of a pulque shop we have been obliged to procure two old soldiers as porters in lieu of the two who were shot in the revolution for though not killed they are entirely disabled for the present mexico appears particularly quiet just now and whatever storms may be preparing no symptoms are visible to the uninitiated eye the palace has got in its glass eyes again and externally is almost entirely repaired but it is not yet fit for the residents of the president who still holds his court in the convent of san angostin i have been driving about with our havana friend like an old resident showing the beauties of mexico to a stranger we have been in the minaria museum botanical garden bisque college etc all of which can bear revision the museum especially which owing to the want of arrangement and classification in the antiquities and the manner in which they are crowded together in the different rooms of the university appears at first undeserving of much attention improves upon acquaintance it is only since the year 25 that it was established by the government and various plans have been since made for enriching and arranging it and also for transporting it to the old building of the inquisition but as yet nothing essential has been carried into effect it contains upwards of 200 historical manuscripts some in hieroglyphical characters anterior to the conquest and many in the different ancient languages of the country of the ancient sculpture it possesses two colossal statues and many smaller ones besides a variety of busts heads figures of animals masks and instruments of music or of war curiously engraved and indicating the different degrees of civilization of the different nations to whom they belonged a great many of the vases and of the candlesticks in clay curiously worked were drawn from excavations in the Isle of Sacrifices near Veracruz from Oaxaca etc and from the suburbs of Mexico there is also a collection of very ancient metals to the number of 600 a bronze bust Philip V and about 200 mehican paintings comprehending two collections of the portraits of the Spanish Fissuroy's many of the celebrated cabreras and various dresses arms and utensils from both the californias in the cabinet of natural history there is a good collection of minerals and some very fine specimens of gold and silver but in the animal or vegetable branch of natural history there is a great deficiency and altogether the museum is not worthy of a country which seems destined by nature to be the great emporium of all natural science of course we have revisited old chapultepec and our lady of Guadalupe with her legend and holy well in the morning we have wrote takubaya and the environs and the weather at that early hour has the most indescribable freshness caused by the evening rains everything looks bright and sparkling the Peruvian trees with their bending green branches and bunches of scarlet berries glitter with the heavy raindrops and even the hoary cypresses of chapultepec sparkle with water in all their gigantic branches little pools have become ponds and ditches rivulets and frequently it is rather waiting than riding which is not so pleasant 24th last evening we had a very pretty ball in the house of the french minister where all the paris furniture was very effective there were as usual plenty of diamonds and some handsome dresses mine white satin with flowers 25th the whole world is talking of a pamphlet written by senor cucheres estrada which has just appeared and seems likely to cause a greater sensation in mexico than the discovery of the gunpowder plot in england its sum and substance is the proposal of a constitutional monarchy in mexico with a foreign prince not named as its head as the only remedy for the evils by which it is afflicted the pamphlet is written merely in a speculative form in calculating no sanguinary measures or sudden revolution but the consequences are likely to be most disastrous to the fearless and public spirited author even those who most question his prudence in taking this step agree that in this as well as in every other political action of his life he has acted from thorough conviction and from motives of the purest patriotism unalloyed by one personal feeling indeed entirely throwing behind him every consideration of personal or family interest which even the best men allowed to have some weight with them on such occasions in a political review of mexico written some years ago by a mehican who deals fearlessly and it would seem impartially with the characters of all the leading men of that period i find some remarks on senor cucheres estrada which you will place more faith in as coming from a less partial source than from persons so attached as we are to him and his family in speaking of the conduct of the administration he says senor cucheres estrada was one of the few who remained firm in his ideas and above all true to his political engagements this citizen is a native of the state of yucatan where his family who are distinguished in every point of view reside it is unnecessary to say that cucheres received a thorough and brilliant education as it is sufficient to have conversed with him to discover this fact nor that he knew how to turn it to account in the career of public service to which he devoted himself and in which he has remained pure and unblemished in the midst of a corrupt class from the first he was destined to the european legations on account of his fluency in speaking and writing both english and french and he is one of the few who have employed their time usefully in the capitals of the old world flexible by nature honorable by education and expeditious in business his services have been perfect and above all loyal and conscientious he goes on to say that notwithstanding the gentleness of his temper his political conscience is so firm and pure that he will never yield in what he considers his obligation even when it interferes with the most intimate friendships or most weighty considerations one would think that the writer had foreseen the present emergency i have not yet read the pamphlet which the friends of the author consider an equal proof of his noble independence bold patriotism and vast information being to say the truth much more interested in its domestic effects than in its public results or even its intrinsic merits twenty-sixth soldiers were sent to the house of the countess delacy a to arrest her son-in-law but in compliance with the entreaties of his family he had gone into concealment i found them in great affliction but they are so accustomed to political persecution from one party or another particularly the countess that her courage has never deserted her for a moment he is accused in congress in the senate house a proclamation is made by the president anathematizing his principles even the printer of the pamphlet is thrown into prison nothing else is spoken of and the general irritation is so terrible that it is to be hoped his place of concealment is secure otherwise the consequences may be fatal on pretend that many distinguished men here hold the same opinions but their voices even were they to venture to raise them could not stand the tide of public indignation the most offended are naturally the military men in short senor guccieres who has been passing four years abroad in countries where hundreds of obscure scribblers daily advocate republicanism or any wild theory that strikes their fancy with the most perfect security was probably hardly aware of the extraordinary ferment which such a pamphlet was likely to produce at the present juncture twenty seventh a few days before senor a left us we went up to the canal in a canoe as far as santa anita to show him all that remains of the chinampas it is a pleasant a way of passing an evening as any that i know of here we drove lately to mexico single where there is a cave in which there is a figure of our savior which they pretend has lately appeared there the excitement concerning the pamphlet seems rather to increase than diminish but senor guccieres has many devoted friends and the place of his retreat is secure there is little doubt that he will be forced to fly the country twenty ninth senor don savier hechavaria minister the treasury has sent in his resignation being a man of large private fortune extremely simple in his habits and the most amiable of men in domestic life i believe that no minister has ever thrown off with more unaffected satisfaction the burden of state affairs or will enjoy his retreat from public life with more true philosophy i have been so much interested in the affairs of the ca family that i have forgotten to tell you of my having obtained permission from the archbishop to visit the santa tereza accompanied by one young married lady who has a sister there the archbishop desired that our visit should be kept a secret but it has oozed out by some means or other probably through the nuns themselves and exposed him to so much inconvenience and such a torrent of solicitations from those ladies who having daughters or sisters amongst the nuns are naturally most desirous to see them that i fear notwithstanding his good nature he will put a veto on all my future applications you will think i passed my time in convents but i find no other places have so interesting and you know i always had a fancy that way in some of these convents there still exist buried alive like the inmates various fine old paintings amongst others some of the Flemish school brought to mexico by the monks at the time when the low countries were under Spanish dominion many masters also of the mehican school such as enrique's cabrera etc have enriched the cloisters with their productions and employed their talent on holy subjects such as the lives of the saints the martyrs and other christian subjects everywhere especially there are cabreras an artist somewhat in the luca giordano style the same monotony facility and fa presto luca all his pictures are agreeable and some strikingly beautiful occasionally he copies from the old masters but rarely he menes and enrique's are not so common and some of their productions are very good and deserve to be better known than i imagine they are in europe they are a branch of the spanish school and afford striking proofs of the extraordinary talent of the mehicans for the fine arts as well as of the facilities which the mother country afforded them but it is in the convent of the professor that the finest paintings are and there i cannot enter the galleries are full of paintings the most part by cabrera and cn speaks with enthusiasm of one exceedingly beautiful painting in the sacristy of the chapel said to be an original guido being a representation of christ tied to the pillar and scourged in which the expression of pure divinity and suffering humanity is finally blended and well contrasted with savage cruelty in the countenances of his executioners but most of these paintings are neglected and so falling to decay that it is pitable to look at them the santa tereza however has few ornaments it is not nearly so large as the incarnation and admits but twenty one nuns at present there are besides these but three novices its very atmosphere seems holy and its scrupulous and excessive cleanness makes all profane dwellings appear dirty by comparison we were accompanied by a bishops and your madrid the same who assisted at the archbishop's consecration a good-looking man young and tall and very splendidly dressed his robes were of purple satin covered with fine point lace with a large cross of diamonds and amethysts he also wore a cloak of very fine purple cloth lined with crimson velvet crimson stockings and an immense amethyst ring when he came in we found that the nuns had permission to put up their veils rarely allowed in this order in the presence of strangers they have a small garden and fountain plenty of flowers and some fruit but all is on a smaller scale and sadder than in the confine of the incarnation the refectory is a large room with a long narrow table running all around it a plain deal table with wooden benches before the place of each nun an earthen bowl an earthen cup with an apple in it and a wooden plate and a wooden spoon at the top of the plate a greening skull to remind them that even these indulgence they shall not long enjoy in one corner of the room is a reading desk a sort of elevated pulpit where one reads aloud from some holy book whilst the others discuss their simple fare they showed us a crown of thorns which on certain days is worn by one of their member by way of penance it is made of iron so that the nails entering inwards run into the head and make it bleed while she wears this on her head a sort of wooden bit is put into her mouth and she lies prostrate on her face till dinner is ended and while in this condition her food is given her of which she eats as much as she can which probably is none we visited the different cells and were horror struck at the self-inflicted torture each bed consists of a wooden plank raised in the middle and on days of penitence crossed by wooden bars the pillow is wooden with a cross lying in it which they hold in their hands when they lie down the nuns lie on these penitential couch embracing the cross and her feet hanging out as the bed is made too short for her upon principle around her waist she occasionally wears a band with iron points turning inwards on her breast across with nails of which the points enter the flesh of the truth of which I had melancholy ocular demonstration then after having scourged herself with a whip covered with iron nails she lies down for a few hours on the wooden bars and rises at four o'clock all these instruments of discipline which each nun keeps in a little box beside her bed looks as if their fitting place would be in the dungeons of the inquisition they made me try their bed and board which I told them would give me a very decided taste early rising yet they all seem as cheerful as possible though it must be confessed that many of them look pale and unhealthy it is said that when they are strong enough to stand this mode of life they live very long but it frequently happens that girls who come into this convent are obliged to leave it from sickness long before the expiration of their novitiate I met with a girl who might sin take the veil and cannot say that she looked either well or cheerful though she assured me that of course in doing the will of God she was both there was not much beauty amongst them generally though one or two had remains of great loveliness my friend the madre a is handsomer on a closer view than I had supposed her and seems in a special favorite with old and young but there was one whose face must have been strikingly beautiful she was as pale as marble and though still young seemed in very delicate health but her eyes and eyebrows as black as jet the eyes so large and soft the eyebrows two penciled arches and her smile so resigned and sweet would have made her the loveliest model imaginable for a Madonna again as in the incarnation they had taken the trouble to prepare an elegant supper for us the bishop took his place in an antique velvet chair the senora blank and I were placed on each side of him the room was very well lighted and there was as great a profusion of custards jellies and Isis as if we had been supping at the most profane cafe the nuns did not sit down but walked about pressing us to eat the bishop now and then giving them cakes and with permission to eat them which they received laughing they have the most humble and caressing manners and really appear to be the most amiable and excellent women in the world they seem to make no ostentation virtue but to be seriously impressed with the conviction that they have chosen the true road to salvation nor are there in them any visible symptoms of that spiritual pride from which few devotees are exempt after supper a small harp was brought in which had been sent for by the bishop's permission it was terribly out of tune with half the strings broke but we were determined to grudge no trouble in putting it in order and giving these poor recluses what they considered so great a gratification we got it into some sort of condition at last and when they heard it played they were vehement in their expressions of delight the senora blank who has a charming voice afterwards sang to them the bishop being very indulgent and permitting us to select whatever songs we chose so that when rather a profane canticle the virgin of the pillar la vergen del pilar was sung he very kindly turned a deaf ear to it and seemed busily engaged in conversation with an old madre till it was all over we were really sorry to leave them particularly as it is next to impossible that we shall ever see them again and it seemed as if in a few hours a friendship had been formed between us and these recluses whose sensations are so few they must be the more lasting the thoughts of these poor women cost me a sad and sleepless night they have sent me some wax figures dressed in the costumes of the different orders beginning with their own they wear the coarsest and hardest stuff next to their skin in itself a perpetual penance in these robes they are buried and one would think that if any human being can ever leave this world without a feeling of regret it must be a none of the santa teresa when her privations in this world ended she lays down her blameless life and joins the pious sisterhood who have gone before her dying where she has lived surrounded by her companions her last hour soothed by their prayers and tears sure of their vigils for the repose of her soul and above all sure that neither pleasure nor vanity will ever obliterate her remembrance from their hearts at matins at vaspers at the simple board at the nightly hymn she will be missed from their train her empty cell will recall her to their eyes her dust will be profaned by no strangers footstep and though taken away she still seems to remain amongst them as for the monasteries not only no woman can enter but it is said with what truth i know not that a vice queen having insisted on the privilege of her vice royalty to enter the gallery had every place which her footsteps desecrated were unpaved this was very sense synonymous like and pure galant to say the least the finest convent of monks in mexico is that of san francisco which from alms alone has an immense annual rent according to humboldt it was to have been built upon the ruins of the temple of the god of war but these ruins having been destined for the foundation of the cathedral the cement's convent was erected where it now stands in 1531 the founder was an extraordinary man a great benefactor of the indians and to whom they owed many useful mechanical arts which he brought them from europe his name was fry pedro de gante he's calling that of a lay friar and his father was the emperor charles the fifth of the interior of this convent i am unable to give you a partial description but whether from here say in a vision or by the use of my natural eyes i shall not disclose it is built in the form of a square and has five churches attached to it you enter a gate pass through the great silent and grass grown court of the broad staircase and enter the long arched cloisters lighted by one dim lamp where everything seems to breathe a religious repose the padre prior seated alone in his cell with a thick and richly clasped volume before him a single lamp on his table on the wall a crucifix plain but decent furniture with his bald head and pale impressive face would have been a fine study for a painter by such men the embers of learning and of science were nursed into a faint but steady flame burning through the long gloomy night of the dark ages unseen by profane eyes like the vestal fire in pagan temples a small room opening into his little parlor contains his bed on which is a mattress for the padres do not perform such acts of self-denial and penitence as the cloistered nuns and i am assured that his cigars are genuine havana beggars lounging in the courtyard a group of monks talking together within the walled enclosure change the scene to the monastery of san angostin and you might fancy yourself in the days of one of walter scott's romances in the melange of soldiers and friars for here is excellency the president has his temporary abode and the torchlight gleams brightly on the swarthy faces of the soldiers some lying on the ground enveloped in their cloaks others keeping guard before the convent gate this convent is also very large but not so immense as that of san francisco the padre prior is a good little old man but has not the impressive aesthetic visage of the garden of the other convent his room is as simple though not in such perfect order and his bed is also furnished with a comfortable mattress an air half military half monkish pervades the convent at the camp of the president passing along the galleries their uniforms contrasting with a dark robe of a passing monk returning at nightfall to his cell the president had an alarm the night proceeding the prisoners in the jail having broken out a serious affray had been expected and everything was prepared for putting the person of the president in safety the back stairs and secret passages in these old convents lead to excellent hiding places and have been put to frequent use during the revolutions in the old montepio there is a communication with a convent of nuns and in cases of pillage the jewels used to be carried by a private staircase out of montepio and placed under the care of the nuns of santa brigida the convent of la profesa is also a fine in spacious building but exempting that it has a greater number of good paintings than the others when you have seen one you have seen all and i believe none are as large as that founded by the illegitimate seon of the imperial charles who himself ended his days in a similar retreat end of letter the 27th letter the 28th of life in mexico this is a libra vox recording all libra vox recordings are in the public domain for more information or to volunteer please visit libravox.org life in mexico by francis calderón de la barca letter the 28th dia de muertos live mexico herederos san cristobal tunas plaza de toros throwing lasso accidents rustic breakfast country fair baked meat indian market buried bull mountain solitary hacienda reyes mules marked return queen of spain's birthday diplomatic dinner santiago november 3rd yesterday the 2nd of november a day which for eight centuries has been set apart in the catholic church for commemorating the dead the day emphatically known as the dia de muertos the churches throughout all the republic of mexico present a gloomy spectacle darkened and hung with black cloth while in the middle isle is a coffin covered also with black and painted with skulls and other emblems of mortality every one attends church in mourning and considering the common lot of humanity there is perhaps not one heart over the whole catholic world which is not wrong that day in calling up the memory of the departed after early mass we set off for santiago where we intend to spend a week to be present at the herederos the marking of the bulls with a hot iron with the initials of the proprietor's name stamping them with a badge of slavery which is said to be an extraordinary scene to which all rancheros and indians look forward with the greatest delight we had a very pleasant journey here living mexico at six in the morning and traveling at the usual rate with seven horses and plenty of mozos indeed no one attempts a journey of any length into the country without at least six horses or mules near so payuka while they were changing horses we went to mass in the picturesque church of san cristobal the magnificence of these places of worship is extraordinary here was this country church crowded with leperos the officiating priests indians with bare feet yet the building large and rich hung with black cloth and lighted with great tapers which threw their gloomy rays on as much of the rich gilding that encrusted the walls as the dark pall left visible we got into the carriage a basket of that most refreshing of fruits the tuna which grow wild in abundance all over the country the first time i unwarily pulled them off the trees i got my fingers full of the innumerable little prickles which cover the skin and which it is very difficult to get rid of the indians have great dexterity in gathering and peeling them there is the green and the red tuna the last the prettiest to look at but not nearly so agreeable a fruit as the other when we arrived at santiago we sat down to a dinner to the number of about 50 persons and in the room next to us was a party still larger of lower degree for all the world has come to be present at this animal festivity 6. the next morning we set off early to the plaza de toros the day was fresh and exhilarating all the country people from several leagues around were assembled and the trees up to their very topmost branches presented a collection of bronze faces and black eyes belonging to the indians who are taking their places there as comfortably as spectators in a one-shilling gallery a platform opposite ours was filled with the wives and daughters of agents and small farmers little rancheras with short white gowns and ribosos there was a very tolerable band of music perched upon a natural orchestra bernardo and his men were walking and riding about and preparing for action nothing could be more picturesque than the whole scene several hundred bulls were driven in from the planes bellowing loudly so that the air was filled with their fierce music the universal love which the mehicans have for these sports amounts of passion all their money is reserved to buy new dresses for this occasion silver rolls are gold linings for their hats or new deer skin pantaloons and embroidered jackets with the silver buttons the accidents that happen are innumerable but nothing depths their ardor it beats fox hunting the most striking part of the scene is the extraordinary facility which these men show in throwing the lasso the bulls being all driven into an enclosure one after another and sometimes two or three at a time were chosen from amongst them and driven into the plaza where they were received with shouts of applause if they appeared fierce and likely to forward good sport or of irony if they turned to fly which happened more than once three or four bulls were driven in they stand for a moment proudly reconnoitering their opponents the horsemen gallop up armed only with a lasso and with loud insulting cries of atoro challenge them to the contest the bulls paw the ground then plunge furiously at the horses frequently wounding them at their first onset round they go in fierce gallop bulls and horsemen amidst the cries and shouts of the spectators the horsemen throws the lasso the bull shakes his head free of the cord tosses his horns proudly and gallops on but his fate is inevitable down comes the whirling rope and encircles his thick neck he's thrown down struggling furiously and repeatedly dashes his head against the ground in rage and despair then his legs being also tied the men with hising red hot iron in the form of a letter brands him on the side with the token of his dependence on the lord of the soil some of the bulls stand this martyrdom with spartan heroism and do not utter a cry but others when the iron enters their flesh burst out into long bellowing roars that seem to echo through the whole country they are then loosened to get upon their legs again and like so many branded canes are driven out into the country to make way for others such roaring such shouting such an odor of singed hair and biftek on natural such playing of music and such wanton risks as were run by the men I saw a toriador who was always foremost in everything attempting to drag a bull by the horns when the animal tossed his head and with the jerk of one horn tore all the flesh of his finger to the very bone the man coolly tore a piece off a handkerchief shook the blood off his finger with a slight grimace bounded up in a moment and dashed away upon a new venture one maykin extraordinarily handsome with eyes like an eagle and very thin and pale is they say so covered from head to foot with wounds received in different bull fights that he cannot live long yet this man was the most enthusiastic of them all his master tried to dissuade him from joining in the sport this year but he broke forth into such pathetic entreaties conjuring him by the life of the senorita etc that he could not withhold his consent after an enormous number of bulls had been caught and labeled we went to breakfast we found a tent prepared for us formed of boughs of trees intertwined with garlands of white moss like that with which covers the cypresses of chapultepec and beautifully ornamented with red blossoms and scarlet berries we sat down upon heaps of white moss softer than any cushion the indians had cooked meat under the stones for us which i found horrible smelling and tasting of smoke but we had also boiled fowls and quantities of burning chili hotter tears at all or a tolly as the indians call it his pieces of cake made a very fine maze and water and sweetened with sugar or honey imbarado a favorite composition of meat and chili very like mud as the name imports which i have not yet made up my mind endure quantities of fresh tunas granaditas bananas aguacates and other fruits besides poke a discretion the other people were assembled in circles under the trees cooking fowls and boiling eggs in egyptian fashion in cauldrons at little fires made with dry branches and the band in its intervals of tortilla and pulque favored us with occasional airs after breakfast we walked out amongst the indians who had formed a sort of temporary market and were selling pulque chia roasted chestnuts yards of baked meat and every kind of fruit we then returned to see a great bullfight which was followed by more herederos in short spent the whole day amongst the toros and returned to dinner at six o'clock some in coaches some on horseback in the evening all the people danced in a large hall but at eleven o'clock i could look on no longer for one of these days in the hot sun is very fatiguing nevertheless at two in the morning these men who had gone through such violent exercise were still dancing harabes eight for several days we lived amongst bulls and indians the herederos continuing with variation of colier riding the bulls etc not the slightest slackening in the eagerness of men even a little boy of 10 years old mounted a young bull one day and with great difficulty and at a great risk succeeded in forcing him to gallop around the circle his father looked on evidently frightened to death for the boy yet too proud of his youthful prowess to attempt to stop him at night when i shut my eyes i see before me visions of bulls heads even when asleep i hear them roaring or seem to listen to the shouts of ah toro the last day of the herederos by way of winding up a bull was killed in honor of cn and a great flag was sent streaming from a tree on which flag was inscribed in large letters gloria al señor ministro del agosto cristina a piece of gallantry which i rewarded with a piece of gold the animal when dead was given as a present to the torcadores and this bull cut in pieces they bury with his skin on in a hole in the ground previously prepared with fire in it which is then covered over with earth and branches during a certain time it remains baking in this natural oven and the common people consider it a great delicacy in which i differ from them yesterday we climbed to the top of a steep mountain which cost us as much labor as if it had been that steep path which leads to fame fortunately it has a good deal of wood and we had an occasional rest in the shade we mounted the hill on horseback as far as horses could go but the principal part could only be performed on foot most of the party remained halfway we reached the top swinging ourselves up by the branches in places where it was nearly perpendicular we were rewarded first by the satisfaction one always has in making good ones intentions and next by a wonderfully fine and extensive view our return was more agreeable as the weather except in the heat of the noonday sun is very cold in this part of the country the hills are covered chiefly with tunas low furs and numbers of shrubs with flowers and berries met on our return a horseman who came to announce the arrival of a guest senor age from puebla who proved a pleasant addition to our society fifteenth we went out early this morning on horseback and breakfasted at an hacienda five leagues distant from santiago belonging to the widow of blanks agents a good-looking respectable woman who alone in this solitary place brings up her eight children as she best can this may really be called solitude from one year to another she never sees a human being except an occasional indian she is well-off and everything in her house is clean and comfortable she herself manages the farm and educates her children to the best of her abilities so that she never finds time to be dull she expected us and gave us breakfast we being about twenty number consisting of everything which that part of the country can afford and the party certainly did justice to her excellent fare she gave us pulque fermented with the juice of the pineapple which is very good when the sun had gone down a little we rode to the fine hacienda of reyes belonging to senor a where he is making and projecting alterations and improvements when we left as it began to rain and we were glad to accept the covering of sarapes as we galloped over the plains we had a delightful ride towards evening the rain seized and the moon rose brightly and without a cloud but we were certainly tired enough when we got home having rode in all ten leagues seventeenth these two days have been passed in seeing the mules marked they are even more dangerous than the bulls as they bite most ferociously while in their wild state when thrown down by the lasso they snore in the most extraordinary manner like so many aldermen in an apoplectic nap this is perhaps the most useful and profitable of all mehican animals as beasts of burden and for drought they are in use over the whole republic and are excellent for long journeys being capable of immense fatigue particularly in those arid hilly parts of the country where there are no roads those which go in droves can carry about five hundred pounds weight going at the rate of twelve or fourteen miles a day and in this way they can perform journeys of more than a thousand miles for constant use there are preferable to horses being so much less delicate requiring less care and enduring more fatigue a good pair of carriage mules will cost for five hundred to a thousand dollars after dinner we saw some of these wild creatures that had just been caught put into a carriage each wild mule harnessed with a civilized one and such kicking and flinging up of heels i never witnessed however the mozzles can manage anything and in about half an hour after much alternate soothing and lashing they trotted along with the heavy coach after them only rearing and plunging at decent intervals mehico twelfth we have passed ten days in the country taking constant exercise and have been obliged to return home rather sooner than we should have wished in order to mark queen isabel's day with a diplomatic dinner though less is now said on the subject of the pamphlet than when we left this the irritation seems to continue as before senor kucheres remains concealed communicating only with his family and a few devoted friends a most disagreeable position and one which it is impossible for him to endure long twentieth our dinner has gone off as well as could be expected the party were twenty six in number consisting of his grace the archbishop their excellencies at the cabinet and core diplomatic together with count cortina the valencia's and gross teasers the gentlemen were in full uniform the ladies and grande toilette the archbishop in his robes we had a band of music in the gallery and walked into the sound of norma precedence being given to the archbishop who took me or rather whom i took as i found some difficulty in getting my arm into his robes i believe no blunders in etiquette were committed the dinner lasted three and a half mortal hours the archbishop proposed the health of her majesty the queen which was drank standing the band performing god save the queen i was dreadfully tired though in a very agreeable position and have no doubt everyone else was the same it being eleven when we return to the drawing room the archbishop's familiars two priests who always accompany him respectable black guards were already in waiting as for him he was as kind and agreeable as usual and after coffee took his departure to the sound of music and of letter the twenty eighth letter the twenty ninth of life in mahiko this is a libra vox recording all libra vox recordings are in the public domain for more information or to volunteer please visit libravox.org life in mahiko by frances calderon de la barca letter the twenty ninth vergin of gavadonja santo domingo decorations and music daguerotype weekly soirees and arrival an earthquake honorable mr. blank broken furniture tias day of the virgin of guadalupe party of the desierto it's quen de pozzotli in of guajimaclo ruined convent its origin de junei alla fochette splendid scenery vowed to the virgin musical mess ride with the prior twenty first we received a few days since an invitation to attend the sumptuous mass annually given by the austrian brotherhood in honor of the virgin of gavadonja in the church of santo domingo the invitation being printed on blue satin with gold lace and tassels seems worthy of a place in a box of wax figures which will be sent by the next packet the church was superbly decorated and only well-dressed people were admitted cn was carried off to a post of honor near the altar and a padre gave me a velvet chair the music was beautiful but too gay for a church there were violins and wind instruments and several amateur players some pieces from the cheval de bronze were very well played the sermon preached by guadero a chanoen who has some reputation as an orator contained a prudent degree of praise of the spaniards and even of a king could that king be a pelayo in the evening we dined at the prussian ministers a pleasant party yesterday we went to chapulte peck cn and i md gt and mdn to take views with a degreotype which cn had the pleasure of receiving some time ago from boston from our friend mr prescott while they were working in the sun i finding that the excessive heat had the effect of cooling my enthusiasm established myself with a book under montezuma's cypress which felt very romantic the poetry of the scene however was greatly weakened by the arrival of a party of four cats in chains who were working in the castle which i believe there is some intention of having transformed into a military college they are so insolent that forgetting they are guarded and chained in couples i felt glad to see that the servants were within call our weekly soirees have begun and so far are very successful there are now three tortillas in the week at the houses of the diplomats we have generally music cards and plenty of dancing and everyone seems pleased the best proof of which they give by generally staying till two or three in the morning twenty eighth you may imagine my joy at the arrival of k and a in health and safety at three o'clock today they have had a good journey from veracruz suffering from nothing but the cold which they felt especially at perote as they arrived on the day of a soiree they did not make their appearance being tired i have now an excuse for revisiting all my old haunts and the first week or two must pass in sightseeing thirtieth we dined yesterday at akubaya where the ca family particularly the ladies of the family are in a state of the greatest uneasiness i had just written these words when i began to my great astonishment to rock up and down chair table and myself suddenly the room the walls all began to move and the floor to heave like the waves of the sea at first i imagined that i was giddy but almost immediately saw that it was an earthquake we all ran or rather staggered as well as we could into the gallery where the servants were already arranged on their knees praying and crossing themselves with all their might the shock lasted above a minute and a half and i believe has done no injury except in frightening the whole population and cracking a few old walls all mexico was on its knees while it lasted even the poor madmen in san jepolito which a had gone to visit in company with senor blank i have had a feeling of seasickness ever since they expect a return of the shock in 24 hours how dreadfully severe earthquake must be how terrible it is to feel these heaving of the solid earth to lose our confidence in its security and to be reminded that the elements of destruction which lurk beneath our feet are yet swifter and more powerful to destroy than those which are above us i cannot help laughing yet at the recollection of the face of a poor little clerk who had just entered the house with a packet of letters for cn he did not kneel but sat down upon the steps as painless death looking as creamed faces the messenger to macbeth and when the shock was over he was so sick that he ran out of the house without making any remarks the scarlet hookamaya with a loud shriek flew from its purge and performed a zigzag flight through the air down to the troubled fountain in the court your friend the honorable mr blank arrived the other day looking very ill having had the yellow fever at havana very severely a peculiar piece of bad fortune at this season all the furniture we ordered from the united states arrived some time ago a mass of legs and arms tables wardrobes etc were i believe all sold for the mahogany at veracruz the mirrors also arrived in powder this must be owing to bad packing since our most delicate things from london such as crystal porcelain etc have arrived in excellent condition december third have had many visits today this being my dear de fiesta amongst others the president was here this custom of keeping people's deus gives one a great deal of trouble but the emission is considered rather a breach of politeness twelfth this being the anniversary of the day of the miraculous apparition of our lady of guadalupe the cathedral and village will be crowded with indians from all parts of the country a and mr b have driven over there but from all accounts the crowd will be so great that we are not tempted to accompany them we have a suare this evening and have had two pleasant parties this week at the other houses tomorrow we intend going with a large party to the desert where some gentlemen are to give a breakfast i understand that there are to be 23 people on horseback and 18 in carriages and our tristing place is by the great fountain with a gilt statue in the paseo de bucarelli the hour half past seven they say the dessert is a beautiful place but being seven leagues from mexico we shall probably all return as tired as possible 15th the morning of our party to the dessert was beautiful here one did not fear those contremptes in regard to the weather which in england so often render a party of pleasure painful unless indeed one chooses to select an evening in the rainy season for an expedition we met by the fountain at the hour pointed some in carriages and someone horseback of the latter i formed part the road leads along the aqueduct by chapultepec and through takubaya and is the high road that goes to taluka the first part after passing takubaya is steep bleak and uninteresting plantations of mague and occasional clumps of peruvian trees are the only vegetation and indian huts the only traces of human life but after a tedious ascent the view looking back upon mexico with all her churches lakes and mountains is truly magnificent the road also begins to wind through a fertile and wooded country about noon we reached an inn where travelers stop who are going to taluka and where we halted to collect our scattered forces hanging up by a hook in the entry along with various other dead animals poll cats weasels etc was the ugliest creature i ever beheld it seemed a species of dog with a hunchback a head like a wolf and no neck a perfect monster as far as i can make out it must be it's quente potsolly mentioned by some old mehican riders the people had brought it up with the house and killed it on account of its fierceness this inn stands in the valley of gualquimalco and is about a league from the deserto there is no longer any road there but a steep and winding path through the beautiful woods therefore those who had come in coaches were now obliged to proceed on donkeys with indian guides the beauty of the scenery is indescribable the path winds ascending through a wilderness of trees and flowering shrubs bathed by a clear and rapid rivulet and every now and then through the arched forest trees are glimpses of snowy volcanoes and of the distant domes and lakes of mexico the ruins of the old carmelite convent standing on the slope of a hill are surrounded by noble forests of pine and oak and cedar long and lofty forest aisles were the monks of former days wandered in peaceful meditation but they removed from this beautiful side to another said to be equally beautiful and wilder also called the deserto but much farther from mexico and this fertile region which the knowing eye of a yankee would instantly discover to be full of capabilities in the way of machinery belongs to no one and lies here deserted in solitary beauty some poor indians live amongst the ruins of the old cloisters and the wild deer possess the undisputed sovereignty of the woods it is said that a benighted traveler who had lost his way in the solitudes and was miraculously saved from dying of cold founded this rich convent of carmelite monks in gratitude to heaven for his deliverance bequealing his desire that all travelers who passed that way should receive hospitality from the convent certainly no place more fitted for devotion could have been selected than this mountain retreat and when the convent bell told that evening calling the monks to prayer and awakening the echoes of the silent hills its deep notes must have been all in unison with a solemn scene but the sight of a very magnificent dejeuner à la fourchette spread under the pine trees the uncorking of champagne bottles and scotch ale the savory odor of soups and fricandios the bustling attendance of English waiters put to flight all romantic fancies we remembered that we were hungry that we had ridden seven miles and had not breakfasted and no order of friars could have done more justice to the repast than we did but the component parts of a party of pleasure must be very curiously selected the music of the society very nicely fitted or it will inevitably terminate unpleasantly and the elements of discord are more dangerous their effects more lasting than even the coughs and colds and rheumatisms produced by these watery elements sworn foes to all picnics and gypsy parties in our foggy island about four o'clock we remounted our horses and retraced our path through the woods and who could ruminate on petty disputes or complain of trifling accidents or not forget any disagreeable individuals who might have been found among our numerous party when the splendid panorama of mexico burst upon us with all its mountains lakes and planes its churches and towers and gardens bathed in a flood of golden light the rich crimson clouds of sunset resting upon the snow of the volcanoes while the woods through which our horses picked their steps over stones and streamlets were fragrant with blossoming shrubs and wild roses when we reached the inn where the carriages had been left we remounted our horses and as it was growing dusk and the whole party had not yet collected together we thought it advisable for the equestrian part of the expedition to ride forward so leaving the carriages with their escort we set off for mexico cn i a and a servant at full gallop and hardly drew our bridles till we reached the city tired as you may suppose after our 14 leagues ride 20th our yesterday evening's tertulia was very crowded and there was a great deal of music and dancing these weekly soirees are decidedly successful and the best families in mexico unite there without etiquette which we were told it was impossible to bring about perhaps it is that i am getting accustomed to the mehican style of face but it appeared to me that there was a great deal of beauty assembled and as for fine voices they are as common in mexico as they are rare in england a rich senator don bg made a vow to the vet hint some years ago that he would cause a splendid mass to be performed annually in the cathedral at his own expense in honor of our saviour's birth on the morning of christmas eve this mass is performed entirely by amateurs most of the young ladies in mexico who have fine voices taking part in it i was drawn in very unwillingly to promise to take a traveling part on the harp the accompaniment to the incarnatus preparations have long been going on for this solemnization and various rehearsals have taken place amongst the amateurs singers in the evening before large audiences in the minaria the whole thing promises well 24th cn has gone with senor zurutusa a spanish gentleman took querenavaca in tierra caliente to spend a few days at his estate in the neighborhood which at this season will be delightful this morning we rode to san joaquin where we met the prior on horseback on his way to meiko to confess the old priors of the convent of santa tereza he turned back and accompanied us during the rest of our ride he rode with us to takuba around the traces of the ruins and to the fine old church and dismantled convent where we dismounted and having taken off our riding hats accompanied the prior through the deserted cloisters into the old church and i imagined we must have looked very picturesque i in my riding habit and the sandaled fryer in his white robes kneeling side by side on the broken steps of the altar he is so pleasant and well informed that he is a particularly agreeable companion end of letter the 29th