 Section 16 of Travels to Oaxaca by Nicholas Joseph Thierry de Menonville An anonymous translation from the French. This LibriVox recording is in the public domain. By accident a mirror happened to hang before me, and seeing myself in it, dirty and with my clothes torn, I could not but feel amazement and high gratification at the little difficulty I had hitherto met with. In France, taken for a highwayman, I should have been stopped by the police. In Mexico I was not even asked for my passport. I scarcely knew to what I had to ascribe this distinction, possibly in a small degree, it is to be attributed to the inertia and negligence of the Spanish people. But at the same time much liberality and nobleness of mind are apparent in their custom of not suffering themselves to be influenced towards, nor their confidence diminished in, a man and a traveler, because of the garb he wears. Their conduct moreover may be owing, and principally perhaps, to the officers of the interior relying on the governors of the frontier cities and towns, for care that no one be admitted into the kingdom but Spaniards or individuals furnished with regular passports. However this may be, the Alcalde Mayor behaved to me with the same politeness as if I had been dressed in the nicest manner. He even played me a little trick which no doubt afforded him considerable amusement and which made me laugh at myself. He sent me to the farmer of the tobacco duty whom he represented to me as being ill and at the same time a Frenchman, two motives for my rendering him whatever assistance my art was capable of. In vain did I decline going, on pretence that not pertaining to the College of Physicians in New Spain the consequences of such a procedure on my part might injure me. He insisted and proffered to take all responsibility on himself. But what was my astonishment, uncomplined with the wish of the governor, at finding my dear countryman plump as a partridge and with a complexion ruddy as the mourn? I was not able, however, to draw from him a single word of French, and when I explained to him the nature of my visit he answered me coolly in Spanish that the alcalde might keep his physic and physicians to himself. As for his part he was in want neither of the one nor the other. I was much pleased with having to render an account to the governor of the success of my mission. He received me with less kindness than on the former occasion, but this was merely to hide the trick. He laughing all the while in his sleeve. He thought me his dup, this, however I frankly forgave on reflecting how much more so he was mine. I afterwards went to his secretary to beg him to change me some gold, and this I perceived had a good effect, for in this, as in my dear country, gold is closely cherished and gives such confidence to those who are its masters. Soon as it was known I had gold, I was well enough dressed, and the secretary received me in a manner no less courteous than the alcalde. I found him a man of sense and who distinguished the value of study after the French manner. He inquired how many academies we had, and when I informed him that, besides five or six in the capital, we had more than twenty in the provinces, he was wrapped in astonishment and mute with wonder. Happy country, he exclaimed, thrice happy country. He was in the right. In what other country do the arts the science flourish in the same degree? Where else is truth and knowledge of every description so fully placed within the reach of all? What resources does Paris furnish as well to the inquisitive who merely skim the surface as to the studious who seek for perfect acquaintance with truth? Public and private libraries, academies, societies of amateurs in which literature is cultivated, models, masterpieces of every kind, these are all found in the capital of France and found but there alone. Does one wish to eliminate the value of these? Let us cast our eyes over the neighboring nations. These, though competitors, are obliged to yield us the palm and however disposed to give their due to them on the score of their individual merits, a Frenchman placed in any of them size for his darling home. From the secretary I went to the Al-Guassil who was to furnish me with horses and, not choosing to leave the spot until I had seen them, I sent word to the director who had invited me to dine with him, not to wait. I had a trifle served up for me, which I swallowed with good appetite, but of which I should have partaken with more zest in any other situation. The reason this, the Al-Guassil chanced to be the jailer of the royal prison so that I actually took my meal between two wickets surrounded by guards in a place whose only decorations were bundles of keys, locks, and chains, a place where I heard incessant moans and lamentations, and where all the time I stayed I was witness to the tears of a multitude of poor Indians who had flocked hither to comfort a father or a friend. As soon as the horses arrived I made all haste to the customs house to load my effects. The director reproached me, yet kindly, for not dining with him, and repeated his urgent entreaties that I should call on his sick friend. He is, added he, on your road, at four leagues from here, and his name, Don Joachim Amoral de Castilla. Great God, exclaimed I, what turn out of my way for the sake of a man who treated me with such indignity? Heaven forbid! Upon this I recounted the humiliating refusal of this gentleman to see me, and the rest of my adventure in his house. I, however, added that, out of respect individually to the director himself, I would yet consent to prescribe for his complaint at Tehuacan, and wait for him there, provided the director would send for him. But as for ever setting foot again on his threshold, it was that to which I never would consent. The director was confounded and mortified, and made me a hundred excuses for the sick man, concluding with abandoning his cause altogether and persisting from further persuasion. Thus I had my turn, and without being actually a physician myself, Physic was revenged for the slight it had received in my person. At length I departed, escorted by the guards belonging to the tobacco farm, as far as the suburbs, either to do me honour, or which is most likely to be sure I took the road to Vera Cruz. I now was happy as if I had escaped from the galleys and breathed with freedom. But I also made such use of my liberty that I was soon at a distance, spite of the extreme heat of the day, reaching Chapulco by four in the afternoon. The great heat and extreme thirst induced me again to drink of the water of the river Tehuacan, and my draught was followed by the same effect which I had experienced before. I enjoyed this day a sight perfectly new to me, and exceedingly singular. It was a mountain of snow situate within the torrid zone. Orzaba, on my passing at this time, was perfectly free from clouds, and I had an unmolested view of its mighty mass, though from a distance of ten leagues. Its form, seen from this spot, is that of a sugar-loaf, and appears but a quarter of a league from Chapulco. It is inconceivable, notwithstanding the extreme warmth of the atmosphere where I was, what pleasure I received from the sight of this frozen mountain. It seemed even to cool and revive me. My very mouth, as is said, watered at seeing it, and I felt almost persuaded I could have swallowed the whole if it were but within my grasp. I presented myself immediately before the Alcalde, whose house, according to custom, fronted the prison. He caused his people to go in search of horses for me, and as none were readily to be found, he was on the point of ordering men for transport of my luggage. Eight Indians, each laden with about two hundred weight, would have been equal to the task, and have carried it for the same price paid for beasts of burden. The idea appeared to me shocking. I entreated the Alcalde therefore to have patience. I would, in fact, rather have halted a week than be witness to so sad, so humiliating a spectacle in my esteem for any human being. At length asses were obtained for carrying my boxes, and for myself a horse. I paid as customary beforehand, and ordered all to be in readiness to set off next morning by three. After these precautions I took a walk in the village, where I enjoyed a coolness as pleasant as if in Europe. I entered the grounds of a worthy Indian. The garden was full of pear trees, and from these I gathered an eight about a dozen pears, smaller than and not equally good with the rousselet. In another garden I saw a species of cherries called capuline, the stones of which I preserved. In a third I was shown silkworms, and the good folks were astonished to find that these insects were known to me. After my walk I returned to my inn, where I supped off a meager fowl, and opened all my trunks to give air to the cochineals. I laid down to rest, but on what do you imagine? A hundred times shall the reader guess, and yet be wide of the truth. It was on the old gate of a prison. These gates are made in the same manner as the gratings to the hold of a ship, and such a gate or grating was the only bedstead the Casa Real could boast. I might here be said with reason to be fluttering about the flame, and was full of causeless apprehension lest I should burn my wings. The thought reminded me of the verse of Marini. Gore la vega farfala al giar lumi. Still, after chasing from their usurp territory the gloomy thoughts which haunted my brain, and committing myself to providence, I sunk into a slumber, and bad as my bed enjoyed refreshing rest. I was awakened at the hour I appointed in the morning by the severity of the cold. I determined on walking for a time to keep myself warm. But as daylight appeared I bestowed my rossinante to rest my legs. Oh, what a number of rare and curious plants did I again behold. S'et omnes elacter mobiles urgente lunga nocte, Horace. At the summit of the mountain I met with the three litters of a spanyard of some rank. The two first were occupied by women and children, the third by himself alone. Notwithstanding the extreme aclivity of the mountain, he had ascended it in this manner from the side whence he came. This morning the mountain or azaba being again enveloped in clouds was not visible. I arrived at occult single at noon, and left it an hour afterwards, but at a slow rate. I was solicitous of not reaching or azaba before night. Not only that I might escape search, but to avoid being consulted on their maladies by the guards. However, what is predestined must have its course. I reached the town as I intended at night. The guard-house on the right was shut up, and I hoped to pass without any mischance. But there was another on the left which I had not remarked. My horse was stopped by the bridle, a new alarm, though now not so lively as that I had experienced at Tehuacan. I had become better accustomed to such events. I halted and began with my customary puroration. Gentlemen, I am a botanist. I have nothing but herbs, nothing which is contraband. I was now interrupted by the chief of the guard, who clasped me in his arms and exclaimed, Ah, senor, and it is indeed you. You have long been gone. Where do you come from? Angel sure from heaven. You it was who snatched from the hands of death the chief of the other guard-house. For God's sake, dain to visit my poor wife. It will readily be conjectured from this accost that my boxes would need no searching. But in turn I must necessarily visit the sick person. She was a young woman, reduced by that dreadful disorder which has been said to derive its origin from America to the very last extremity. Thus I did not conceal from her husband and parents at the same time declaring what the malady was, for it is so common in this country that the mention of it never gives offence. I ordered some palliatives and promised to return. After reasoning in a manner which enchanted all who were present I was led back to my horse, passing no doubt for a most extraordinary personage. My vanity was not excited by this, for grief alone had possession of my faculties, as I reflected on the dreadful effects of this formidable malady. The next day I thought only of my departure, but being detained owing to the negligence of the Al-Guassil, I had occasion to pass by a shop where I saw some very handsome Asiatic tiger skins. I purchased four for housing for horses, which I meant to send to my father, and two small skins of tiger-cats fit for making muffs for women, which I intended for my sister. But being injured by mites I was obliged to sell both the one and the other, and was thus deprived of the pleasure of presenting to my dear parents these intended tributes of my gratitude and affection. I sold them at the rate of a piaster apiece at Port-au-Prince, and one with another they cost me four reales. From Orazaba I proceeded to Villa de Córdoba, which I reached by noon, after having had my trunks examined at the gate, but in a careless manner. I made a very indifferent dinner in a very indifferent inn, but I saw there a singular painting. It represented a Spanish youth at dinner at that inn, and behind him a young negro, who, with a loaded pistol, was amusing himself in shooting at a painting of Christ suspended from the wall, but wonderful to behold from the wound so great a quantity of blood issued as to fill a large tub. The whole of this happened in this very inn, at least if reliance could be placed on the observations of my hostess, who affirmed it with the most solemn oaths. I did not take the trouble to contradict her, but coolly inquired what she had done was such a large quantity of blood. This she could not answer. I left her for the purpose of hiring horses, and was able to obtain them upon no other condition than the promise of a piastre to the Aguacil of the district. It was then so late that I could not arrive at San Severo before the close of day. At this place I alighted at the grocers where I had lodged before on coming. My first care was to urge him to procure horses for me, as owing to the darkness of the night I could have no chance myself of success, especially considering the numerous windings of the Pueblo, the houses of which are, as it were, buried in thickets. I promised my host, if he would procure me them, a couple of dollars, but the idle scoundrel would not budge an inch, though to earn before he retired to rest more money perhaps than he had gained in the whole preceding week. Nothing could exceed the ignorance, the folly, and the pride of this fellow and his brothers. They laughed out like idiots at seeing me bring back nothing but plants, and at the fancy that for matters of such little value I should have daily exposed myself to the risk of perishing from hunger and fatigue. I was in consequence obliged to go myself to the Alcalde, groping my way through the bushes. The Alcalde was a negro whom I found in a sick state. I entreated his wife to interest herself in my behalf, and gave her six reals, with promise of an additional remuneration in case of success. But whether owing to pride or idleness, when after some hours I returned, the Alcalde informed me there were no horses to be had. I was in a violent rage, and suspected strongly that the idle fellow had not even given himself the trouble to inquire. In order to convince myself therefore, I desired the woman to return me the six reals I had given her, and which without any hesitation she complied. This conduct I regarded as showing much good faith and delicacy. Good faith, in as much as it would not have been difficult for her to have maintained that she had really endeavored to get horses, and delicacy, seeing she might think she had no right to keep a sum of money which had been given her for the purpose she had not affected. At length I was obliged to return to my lame negro. This relates to some antecedent passage in the narrative which is lost. He consented readily to take me to Lapunta, but I wished to go as far as Calabasa. He swore he would take me no further than Lapunta, and for my part I swore to myself, in silence, that if I could not find horses at that place, I would make him go on to Calabasa. We did not depart till daybreak. The whole road in the gorge we travel from Orizaba to this place is marked by a cut, a hundred and fifty fathoms broad, anciently intersected by small forts, redoubts, and other strong buildings, the vestiges of which in masonry are still to be seen. This is one entrance into Mexico, which formerly was more frequented than is now the road which leads from Vera Cruz to Jalapa. At the square where, near these ancient redoubts, the guardhouses for tobacco are constructed, I was again visited three times in the course of the morning, and was unmercifully obliged to open all my cases. But I have no cause of complaint, for to this rigorous conduct it is that I was indebted for the preservation of the major part of my cochineals. On this occasion it was that I perceived a species of moth which, having made itself a kind of nest in their cottony down, committed a dreadful ravage among my insects. I was shocked at the loss I had sustained, and halted to cleanse my nopals from these murderers, an operation which cost me upwards of an hour. While thus occupied one of the officers of the guard, who recognized the cochineal, advanced in a familiar manner, observing I must certainly be fond of traveling since I could choose to go so far to obtain what might be had at Vera Cruz, I observed to him that the species was not the same, and that this alone was the only one proper to use in unjuance for the gout. On his part he insisted on the contrary, and affirmed that with this matter he was much better acquainted than me. I on my part was obstinate, and maintained my opinion as long as I thought necessary to encourage his misconception as to my real objects, and at last I gave up to him, promising to follow his advice. There was no doubt abundant field for laughter in the folly and impudence of this ignorant chap, but I had special reason for keeping my countenance, and merely stored on the occasion this observation, that ignorance, silly pride, and self-conceit are constant companions. I arrived at La Punta about ten o'clock, the Spaniards and Indians all in their holiday clothes were flocking hither from every part of the country. It happened to be the festival of the Holy Sacrament, the most solemn of all in Spain. They were about to begin the procession in the square, planted with Plumeria, a species of jasmine, with flowers of yellow, red, white, nay of almost all shades of colors. I repaired thither, and found there had been a gallery of verter constructed by means of the leaves of plantons through which the procession advanced. I made one in it, and afterwards went to breakfast with my former hostess. At her house I found an Indian Alcalde whom I recognized by his black staff, the distinguishing mark of his office. I begged of him to obtain horses for me, but not withstanding the most diligent search there were none to be had. Why, said he, do not the same horses take you forward to Calabaza? Why did not the Alcalde of San Severo give such orders to the Negro who brought you hither? I had no time to answer. A score of Indian voices remarked, Oh, es su nación! Their insinuation was that the Alcalde, himself being a Negro, favored those of his own country. After this I was enabled to obtain a hearing. I represented that though I had offered six reales to the Alcalde of San Severo as an inducement for him to procure horses for me as far as Calabaza, neither my money nor my entreaties were of any avail. At these words my Indian knits his brow, sends for the topoth, and commands him to carry me forward to Calabaza. The people applaud the determination, delighted at seeing a Negro punished. The black, however, does not so soon acknowledge defeat. He asserts that the Alcalde has no jurisdiction over any but the inhabitants of his own district, and that for his part, belonging to another, he was by no means under his control. The countenance of the Alcalde at this afforded an admirable sight. His looks denoted passion, and could his eyes have darted lightning, they would have struck the Negro to the earth. Come with me, Señor, said he, taking me by the hand. We shall let this scoundrel see, this pícaro, whether or no my orders go for ought, while he is in my jurisdiction. He then led me to the house of the Lieutenant of the Alcalde Mayor, whether he ordered the Negro to follow, and was accompanied by all the crowd. While the Alcalde was making his report, I drew the rector aside, and after making him my friend, by proposing to him to give me change for some gold of which he appeared to me very covetous, I entreated him to interest himself in the matter. This he promised me, and drawing the Lieutenant on one side, he pointed out to him with much energy that the ordinances of the King of Spain are precise in directing officers to render assistance and service to all travelers, and that there are no injunctions which ought to be more rigidly enforced. This remonstrance had the desired effect. The Lieutenant inquired how many horses I wanted, whether I was going and what I offered. I saw the bent of these very judicious questions, and that my answer would shortly occasion a decision. I therefore stated that I wanted five horses for Calabaza, seven leagues distant, and that I was willing to pay nine piastres. My offer appeared so handsome that it excited a general burst of admiration. The audience raised their hands to heaven, looked at each other, and finished by murmuring at the obstinacy of the Negro who still made objection to going further. The Alcalde, however, threatened to cast him into prison, and caused me to be forwarded by another topoth. He had length agreed and withdrew pursued by the hootings and hisses of the Indians. This, however, was not all. The Lieutenant caused him to be brought back and requested me in his presence if any injury or ill conduct was shown towards me on the road to advise him of it immediately. The recommendation was applauded and drew forth fresh hootings of the insolent topoth. This scene convinced me of the truth of what I had read in the work of the Abe Reinal, respecting the jealousy and animosity subsisting between the Indians and Negroes in this country. End of Section 16. Section 17 of Travels to Oaxaca by Nicholas, Joseph, Thierry de Menonville, an anonymous translation from the French. This Liborux recording is in the public domain. I departed from La Punta at two in the afternoon and had to travel seven tedious leagues by a very bad road. The unfortunate Negro, desirous of shortening the way, lengthened our journey still one league more for after reaching a ford in a river which empties itself into the Rio de la Punta, but we found it impassable and we were consequently obliged to return. Above the junction of the two rivers, I again noticed the frightful passage over the wretched bridge and the tremendous fos in the rock through which this deep and rapid river glides, foaming in many a curve. After crossing this bridge, we proceeded at full gallop over the savannas of the plain on which we entered. I had some words with the Negro, but as I assumed a commanding tone he was soon calm and in spite of all the torrent beds arroyos we reached Monte Calabaza by eight in the evening. I lost a milled quadruple from my purse on this stage. It had no doubt gotten out of my purse into the waistcoat pocket and thence through some opening had fallen on the plain of sand we had now entered upon. I regretted it as it was lost to everybody. Alas, said I to myself, were it not far better I had given it to the beautiful Indian of Orazaba or rather to the kind and worthy family I had seen at Atcultzingo. At the village of Calabaza I again beheld my old fox of a host which astonished at seeing me whom he had observed going on foot return on horseback and was such a train. I asked for horses, which at first he told me it was impossible to procure, that there were none, that none were at hand. He used many other contradictory and frivolous excuses for not supplying me. The end of all this I saw plainly was only extortion and at length I obtained what I wanted, though for six horses to vary crews a distance of eighteen leagues he exacted no less than twenty dollars. The horses indeed were excellent. Before I left the place I cast a glance about me. The whole landscape was changed in the interval of a fortnight. The rains that had fallen in lieu of barrenness and perfect nudity had occasioned the display of the most charming and lively verter. The whole green carpet before me and every shrub were enameled with flowers while innumerable birds gave by their pleasing notes a charming animation to nature. I here purchased a nest of six beautiful green parakeets with blue wings no larger than sparrows. I brought them in safety to vary crews in a calabash suspended from my saddle, but they perished at sea. We traveled the first stage at a brisk rate and reached the miserable rancho of the old and ugly negris at which I had halted on leaving vary crews. Fatigued, harassed, and half-dying with hunger, I entreated of her four eggs that I saw, but she would spare me only two. She had brandy but no wine so that I made myself a kind of lemonade. This was all I could get from my sorry dinner. As an additional vexation I was subjected to a thousand ridiculous questions from this talkative and impertinent woman and to railery such as were admissible only from an equal. I was nearly out of patience with her, but rightly reckoned that contempt was the only return due from me to such a creature. I took much pains in course of my long excursion in examining the character of the Africans and Americans and marked distinctions highly favorable to the latter, notwithstanding their nearly similar condition in life under the dominion of Spain. The African constantly appeared to me to be proud, passionate, vindictive, and effeminate, base, and intolerably idle. The Mexican, on the contrary, is phlegmatic, mild, and submissive, faithful, and laborious. His humility is in no respect allied to meanness. The negro is humble from fear alone, the Indian from reflection, and oftentimes from attachment, for he is truly as partial to Spaniards as abhorrent of negroes. With the former he frequently intermarries, but never with the latter. The negroes are spies over the conduct of the Indians, and in their charges are almost always colluminators, either with a wish of flattering their masters or from jealousy of their fellow servants. Similar to those dogs which guard the weak and timid flock, they avenge themselves for the sufferings they endure from their master on those subject to their vengeance and frequently tear them to pieces. The Americans have that natural benignity of soul which makes them prepossessing in their manners and hospitable to everyone. I met on my way with a thousand Indians. Their salute was made when yet at a distance, their graduation always uttered unaffectedly and at the very instant of our meeting, and how thankful art I not to be for the constantly kind reception I experienced from them. For the negroes scarcely would they deign to bow on my passing, and at the last place that I halted at and elsewhere, how did I prove their want of compliance to travelers? The first in following their employments stray ten and even fifteen leagues from their hamlets and carry enormous loads, but never did I meet with a single negro on foot or carrying the lightest burden. The dream of certain authors that the liberty of America will be the institution of a negro is purely chemical. Liberty is indeed a blessing by whatever hand bestowed, but that an African, a voluntary slave, a man of the most depraved nature, the scoff even of his equals, and thrown like the foam of the sea on the shores of America, that such a vile, wicked and cowardly people should appreciate justly the value of liberty and so far lose their known illiberality as to share its benefits with their masters is what cannot be expected. No, should a revolution happen, I can far more readily believe it will proceed from a people, mild indeed, but endowed with sense, a people who still occupy the soil on which their ancestors lived free, who still hold this tradition and whose temper, soured at last by the indignities to which they are subject, may break their yoke in pieces and disdain their forced subjection. The negro by no means possesses that energy of mind, nor that love for his country, which are the origin of great enterprises. His heart, essentially corrupt and dastardized by interest and debauchery, is incapable of sublime feeling as his soul of grand conceptions. True bravery exists only in the worthy soul, and who can boast a more noble soul, one consequently susceptible of real courage than the inhabitant of America, so little yet removed from the pristine state of nature, let then the Indian unfold the banners of freedom. This prospect most delights me. This is my view of futurity. After these reflections suggested to me by circumstances, I reverted to those which more immediately affected myself. I had ample room for congratulating myself at having reached the last day of a journey so interesting and at seeing it thus crowned with the most complete success, despite of two vice-voices, six governors, thirty alcalde days, and twelve hundred customs guards. Still, in the midst of my self-congratulation, two annoying worms interrupted the perfectness of my happiness and constantly tormented me. In the first place, I was not yet clear of the perquisitions of the governor of Veracruz, and I dreaded his reproaches. If he should come to the knowledge that, in spite of his orders, I had exceeded the limits of the jurisdiction of the city he governed, I was, precisely, in the condition of the truant who sneaks into his father's house after a holiday he has been making, while his parents thought him at school. On the other hand, whatever reliance I placed on Spanish dilatoriness, I trembled lest I should not arrive before the departure of the two ships destined for the Havana in the forward part of June, and by which I reckoned upon returning, that I might so do had been the motive for my hastening my departure from Oaxaca and making such speed on my way, and on this head I had verily no occasion to reproach myself, for I had used the utmost diligence. By four in the evening we arrived at Rio de Hamapa, though this river was greatly swollen, we were assured it was passable. The Indian, my guide, went before, in a little time the water was up to our saddle-bows. Most luckily I had, constantly, had my boxes packed very high, but for which all my treasures had been lost. For us ourselves the risk we ran was imminent. This was no longer the broad and tranquil stream, but three feet deep which I had passed before in a boat, but a rapid river whose impetuous current bore everything before it, and which was more than six hundred yards over. Besides the oblique line which its rapidity forced us to take, we were moreover obliged to make an angle in order to forward it and reach the proper place of landing. I found all my exertion requisite in keeping myself steady on my horse, which trembled with dread beneath me, and all my courage not to be intimidated at the sight of our danger. I found it utterly impossible to look at the current without being dizzy, so much so indeed as almost to lose my seat. Our horses, feeling their way at every step, were twenty minutes in relieving us from the frightful fears we endured throughout this dangerous passage. It was certainly the most perilous situation I ever was placed in in my life, and were a million offered. I would not have ventured to return to the other side. On landing I was pale and faint and needed a draft of brandy to bring me to myself. Three hundred paces from where we landed we saw a cabin at which we should have made the shore, but for the depth and extreme rapidity of the flood. Night overtook us at two leagues from Vera Cruz. It was unfortunate for us not to be able to reach that city, but to attempt it would be running the risk of losing ourselves in a country where the tracks made in the sand one day are effaced by the winds on the next. Moreover, our horses were exceedingly tired, and after all we should have found the gates of the city shut. We were therefore forced to stop and halted for the night at the side of a caravan consisting of three hundred mules. I had before met with similar caravans, and at first conceived as may be gathered from my narrative a very high opinion of the population and commerce of the country. But I have since, on weighing these circumstances more maturely, been convinced of the contrary, and that compared with the consumption and commerce of the whole of Mexico, the number of mules is far from great. During my stay at Vera Cruz I saw more than ten thousand mules loaded there. But then it must be considered that the exportation and import of a country four times as large, though not a twentieth part so populous as France, is all carried on at this one port, that these animals convey the produce of the whole of the north of Mexico, Vera Cruz, Oaxaca, and Guatemala, a gorge between the mountains of more than five hundred leagues in length, and that the returns brought by them are either of great bulk or very heavy, for example, wine, oil, iron, etc. Nor is this all, though the common load of the Mexican mules is from five to six hundred weight, it is not the less true that thirty or even forty of them, on account of the necessity of relays for shifting the loads, scarcely carry as much as one of our broad-wheel wagons, such as are used between Nantes and Strasburg, and which carry twelve thousand weight. After this computation, six of such wagons in reality affect as much as two hundred mules, though they make a far less conspicuous appearance. To these considerations, let there be added that these numerous caravans are only seen every other year when the galleons are off the coast, and then we shall be enabled to appreciate their just value, this pompous and imposing display of mules and militeers. We hope to meet with some supply of food from these militeers, for we were utterly destitute of provision, having reckoned for certain on reaching Vera Cruz. I therefore entreated them to sell me some of their thin cakes of maize, but this they flatly refused. However, a few moments after they brought me a dish of beans and some maize prepared in a manner I had never seen before. They take the finest part of the flour of this grain after sifting it, which is formed into a puff paste, and they afterwards bake it in the same manner as biscuit. They thus make chippings of white bread, which are eaten in pieces, and are really both very good and wholesome, but require long mastication as they are very dry and hard. The present of the militeers I shared with my topeth. I opened all my cases in the same manner I had done the day before to give air to my cochineals. After this I was anxious for rest, but in vain did the cool of night combine with fatigue to close my eyelids, a cloud of gnats hovering constantly about, prevented the gentle influence of the poppies of Morpheus, how vexatious, how tormentingly vexatious the struggle between exhausted nature and the continual buzz of myriads of winged adders, now alarmed with their hum, and as often with a sting, a sting the pain of which, of long duration and severe, ceases only to be succeeded by a terrible itching, which nothing alleviates, and which is only the more increased by scratching till bathed in blood, scratches indeed are often followed by dangerous ulcers, ever summoned and still ever driven away, my disturbed slumbers were to me a real torture, and at the close of night I found myself still more weary than if I had passed a whole week in the most exhausting labor. At length I saw on the horizon the brilliant star of the ship Argos, and concluding, dense, it was two o'clock, we departed. We arrived at Veracruz at the gate of Orizaba before daybreak. I was in a condition so little fit to be seen that I thought it best to go and change my dress before I entered the city. Leaving therefore the Indian to take care of my trunks, I scaled the walls, entered my lodgings, where I found everything as I had left it, dressed myself in a decent manner, and repaired to the gate of Orizaba, which was then opening. I was a little surprised and somewhat terrified at not finding there my horses, but I learnt that there being no officers at that gate they had been taken to that of Mexico, I ran through the town thither and reached it at the instant of their making their approach. The guards wished to send me to the customs house, which did not open before eight o'clock. I instantly felt all the inconvenience consequent on traversing the city and exposing my prize to the looks of everyone and shuddered at the thought. I therefore saw no better expedient of disembarrassing myself than tickling the natural vanity of the Spaniards. What said I to the chief clerk? Do you then so soon forget the French physician? And is it possible you would wish to make him kick his heels in attendance like a footman for the space of four hours? Besides, are you such novices? Cannot you, yourselves, make the requisite examination? You cannot be such geese but know your business and how to act without advice. Do but look, what I bring is nothing but herbs, nothing but botanical collections, and as I spoke I opened my boxes. They were not disposed to take the trouble of examining more than two, and the only things to which my good folks took exception were the sticks which supported my nopals. They fancied these must be some precious wood and inquired its name of me. I found it no difficult matter to invent one, and I obtained my dismission. Bye, usted con Dios! Passing God's name was all they said. I did not require twice bidding, but soon reached my own home. There was nobody yet up in the house, not a soul stirring in the street, and everything was placed secure in my apartment without a single person observing me. I had now attained my wishes, and my satisfaction was extreme. My expedition was complete, and in the short space of twenty days the half of one of which had been uselessly spent. I had also stopped two days at Oaxaca, so that I had traveled in sixteen days. I had journeyed two hundred and forty leagues of which forty on foot over roads so bad as often to be almost impassable under a burning sun in a wretched country without resources, among people of whose language I was ignorant, in a country in short where I was destitute of a protector or any connections, and where every public officer from his station ought to be inimical to me, to have effected under such circumstances so long and tiresome a journey without illness and without accident was a matter so extraordinary, so lucky that I scarcely was able to persuade myself of its reality. In order to secure my felicity and more fully enjoy my thoughts I resolved on shutting myself up and not going out the whole of the day. After breakfast I sent out for some mold in which to plant my nopals, which I had taken out of the cases and exposed to the air. I found they had sustained some trivial injury from rubbing, but this was inconsequential, and all considered I had no room to complain. I put the nopals into my bedroom, the most retired of my apartments. As for the vanilla and other plants, they were ostentatiously exposed in the hall in order to attract the attention of those individuals from whom I must necessarily receive visits. However great my satisfaction and when is it ever perfect I could not disguise from myself the reverse of the picture. My return by sea to Santa Domingo was adventurous, but my chief embarrassment was how to get my treasure on board at Veracruz in conspect to Omnium in the face of all Israel and then the second gauntlet I had to run at the Havana where I presumed I should have to touch for to how many accidents and inconveniences must I not be subject if in the crowd of inquisitive spectators I must encounter there should happen to be but one of them malevolent. I was moreover anxiously disquieted about the means of fixing my plants on board ship in such a manner that they might be least liable to harm. However after forming one general plan I afterwards made a point to dismiss the care of particulars till time should require their adoption. Following this rule the first thing which claimed attention was my passage. Before my departure I had been presented to the Marquis of Harrison then two months at Veracruz who had arrived with a cargo of wines and who on going to the Havana was anxious to have a Frenchman for his companion he had accepted of me and we had agreed to treat for my passage in three weeks from the time of our conversation. I arrived in good time therefore and proposed visiting him that very evening for the purpose of learning what day he meant to sail. At dusk therefore I went out calling first on my friends the engineers who I knew would not be at home in order to gather from the servants how the land laid. These good folks were delighted to see me and by their attentions I reasonably judged that no change had taken place in their masters with respect to me. They informed me that I was still conjectured to be at La Medellina employed in botanizing and enjoying the baz. Next visited the general of the fleet under like certainty of not meeting with him. My surprise on this occasion was of the most pleasing kind when I was informed by his major domo that Don Antonio Ullo was at Mexico. This incident was the more favorable owing to the constant visits I received from this inquisitive gentleman who would have examined everything and infallibly have discovered what I wished to conceal. I have had confirmation of my being supposed at La Medellina. It was indeed known that I had brought back cases with me full of plants, but if nothing further was suspected of what concern to me was this. End of Section 17. Section 18 of travels to Oaxaca by Nicholas Joseph Thierry de Menonville an anonymous translation from the French. This Librevox recording is in the public domain. I returned home to supper therefore perfectly tranquilized. I had here my mattresses, pillow and white sheets which I found the more delightful from having long been ill accustomed to a good lodging and comfortable repose. There is in truth nothing like privations to teach one the real value of comfort. The next morning after a refreshing night's rest I rose and was dressing myself to call on Mr. Harrison when Mr. Fersen entered. So, so, my little Libertine said he to me, you have not been all this time at Medellina, of that I may safely wager. Confess now," said he, smiling, that I am not wrong in my conjectures. I wished first to learn if the Governor had mentioned me and was informed that, in answer to interrogations twice made at his table, he had been told that I was still at Medellina. Upon hearing this I made him partially acquainted with my journey, telling him that in my excursions I had been insensibly attracted by my curiosity as far as the volcano of Orozaba. He was all astonishment at my having been able to go so far in the time and solicited a detail of my expedition. I found it no difficult matter to vamp up a story with little embellishments and suited to the spots I had seen, but of which I placed the scene between Veracruz and Orozaba. I afterwards showed him with an air of triumph all my plants. Why, what the deuce will you do with all this, said he jeeringly? I let him enjoy his laugh, but I had my turn, for he, having entered my bedroom, saw my no-pulse there, and no more for knowing nothing of the cochineal insect, he paid them no attention. I, therefore, laughed in my sleeve. Confess, however, added he, that you have had the sight of a most beautiful country. Yes, retorted I, and also a most wretched one. With this he agreed, and on noticing with astonishment the scarcity of cultivation and inhabitants I had remarked, he enhanced my wonder exceedingly by informing me that from Panama on the southwest to California and Sonora on the northwest, and from Cartagena to the Mississippi, embracing a surface of two millions of square leagues, the enumeration of the inhabitants does not exceed a million, including not only all the Spaniards, but likewise Indians, mixed breeds and negroes. Monsieur de Fersen, likewise informed me that Monsieur de Harrison would not sail for a month to come when he left me, inviting me to dine with him. I promised him I would, but in the interval I wished to find out a carpenter to order different cases for my plants and concert with him on the best mode of constructing them with security to bear the rolling of the ship. Having planned all this I ordered sixteen boxes of twenty inches long, ten broad and six deep, for each of which I was to give him two rails. I likewise wanted two large chests to hold them, but for these he asked me twenty-five livres of the money of our islands for each. The grossness of the sum displeased me, and I thought no further on the matter till in crossing the market I saw in a carrier's shop two large trunks which served him for locking up his goods at night. These I purchased for eight dollars a piece, and I found them larger than those I had intended, made of good ash plank and found with iron and with good locks. One essential matter thus complete I began to think of my departure. I went to my cooks and learned there with inexpressible delight that D. was about to sail that very weak for Guarico, thus the Spaniards denominate Cape François. All that was wanting now was to agree with the captain, but this was what gave me some uneasiness and the possibility of some invertency he might entertain against me upon the following occasion. At the hotel of Mexico I had been a near neighbor of his and he had often times intruded upon me at those moments which were the only ones I could dedicate to study, but what even more than this had made me averse from him was his common practice of speaking on religion and politics of declaiming against the fanaticism of his countrymen and extolling to the skies Voltaire and other authors who have the most freely written on these subjects. This at the first only made me look on him as an eccentric character but it afterwards originated a suspicion of his being a spy who only meant to pump my sentiments. On this I cut him quite short by observing that it by no means suited his station to meddle with affairs which naturally pertain to the civil and ecclesiastical powers to whose imperative decisions and superior intelligence it were better he should submit. I was fearful lest when I needed him he might retain resentment at my hastiness. I was at the time unacquainted with the circumstance of his being with the lady of the late intendant and that she had inspired him with that goodwill towards me which I had so constantly experienced in herself of the good effect of this I had soon the most ample proof. On my very first inquiry if he would take me as a passenger on board his vessel he answered without the least hesitation that he would with the greatest pleasure and went on agreeing to accompany him whatever course he might steer I inquired what I should pay him for my passage nothing, sir, was his reply. He afterwards asked me if I was aware of his actual destination and on my informing him of my suspicion of its being to Cape François he acknowledged it was and on this head enjoined secrecy this I solemnly vowed and again alluded to the price for my passage but he would listen to nothing on this head and leaving me begged me to have everything ready by the next Wednesday his liberal demeanor affected me yet still not having altogether dismissed the prepossession against him which had haunted my mind I feared lest the circumstance of his giving me a free passage might engage him to treat me or what was more consequent with me my plants with less attention in order therefore to come to a clearer understanding and conclude our agreement I conducted him to the Ice House where I proposed to treat him with creams but this he would not suffer in short all I could obtain from him was that I should have allowance to put on board some refreshments in consequence I shipped to his vessel three bottles of wine fifty fowls et cetera et cetera and as early as Tuesday embarked all my effects my nopals only accepted while this was passing my small cases were in hand when completed I found that eight of them readily entered but exactly filled each of my large chests I afterwards planted in each case four large plants of the nopal covered with living cochineal besides twenty leaves or articulations of nopal just taking root which would form so many plants without reckoning sixteen large ones part of which had begun to root in all nearly three hundred plants with these I mingled a number of other plants of wild cactus from Vera Cruz upon which on my return from Oaxaca I had seen recognize the Sylvester cochineal without suffering myself to be deceived as I had before been by the caterpillar of the destructive moth which Don Ulloa mistook for the cochineal insect itself as for the plants of vanilla I placed them divided into pieces two or three feet long in a dozen casks and cases but so intermingled with twenty other kinds of plants that none but a botanist could have distinguished the valuable ones from those which were not I watered all my plants to complete saturation in order that they might want no water for some time to come on board and all being ready I waited only the instant for sailing the moments to which period were as tedious to me and counted with as much impatience as the intervening time which divides expecting lover from the mistress on whom he dotes I spent the interval of my stay in bidding adieu to all my acquaintance but especially Senora de Boutillos who was returned from the country for the celebration of the nuptials of her daughter and the general of the fleet she as well as her daughters tended their services in the most obliging manner and even testified regret at my departure in return I wished them happiness and the prosperity of their family nor ever were wishes more sincere Monsieur's du Parquet and Monsieur Fersen were not forgotten I in like manner wished them every blessing of life they pitied me much for having gathered so little fruit from my expedition I thanked them for their commiseration but was not so candid as to undeceive them what was most irksome for me was taking leave of the governor I however presented myself before him for the purpose of advising him of my departure intelligence which occasioned him as much pleasure as I pretended regret on announcing it to him he at the same time enjoined me to acquaint him what hour I was on board in order that he might be present at the entrance of the port to take a deposition on the occasion in company with his secretary this I promised but was settled resolution to the contrary so absurd did such forms appear to me and so humiliating for myself at bottom however it was a subject for laughter his presence undoubtedly was for the purpose of ascertaining that I bore off nothing with me and already were all my effects on board I was solicitous of bearing away with me the letter of the vice-way of Mexico note it will be recollected our author addressed letters to the vice-way for permission to travel in that kingdom the answer as is stated was unfavorable and the substance of the letter is given in the early part of the narrative translator this was a curious piece and had I obtained it I have suspended it from my no-pals as a trophy the governor had indeed promised to give it me but leaving him time for reflection he perhaps considered that it would not much redown to the honor of his superior and in consequence flatly refused it on my last audience I insisted upon it you are very bold said he angrily but did you offer me a hundred thousand crowns his pretended anger had no effect on me I told him therefore that it was requisite for me that I should possess the means of satisfying my patron that I had not been at liberty to follow up my botanical researches in the kingdom of Mexico still however he remained obstinate he even went so far as to add that he would not give me the letter though my patron was a king the king of France said I in a modest manner but still with firmness is as much the protector of his meanest subjects as the king of Spain can possibly be of his however elevated when a criminal is banished he receives the minutes of his trial and shall I who am free from crime be treated less favorably my boldness pleased him he did not indeed give up the object itself which I solicited but he became calmer and consented to notice in my passport the order of the Viceroy he moreover withheld from me the passport for Vera Cruz given me by the Marquis de la Tour at the Havana and I even suspected that this was done for the purpose of making it the base of a charge against that excellent man which occasioned me great forgiveness as for the letter of the Viceroy I in good truth cared little about it at the same time it gave me pleasure to have the governor fancy as well as the rest that I left the country much vexed at not having penetrated the interior as such an opinion tended to remove any suspicion which might be entertained of the value of what I bore away on my return to my lodgings I wrote a letter to Don Antonio Ulloa at Mexico it was in a complaining style I observed with respect to the refusal of the Viceroy effecting a liberality or rather a sort of roto montage that however vexed I might feel on the occasion I should never place this circumstance or any exertion of mine in the way of those Spaniards who might come to France for the study of the arts and sciences but on the contrary if it rested with me they should experience even more indulgence than they had before been want to enjoy were it only to show that a Frenchman has too lofty a spirit to attend to trivial injuries after this I settled all my bills in order to discharge the whole of my debts I found myself obliged not only to dispose of every article of furniture I had bought at Vera Cruz such as my bed chairs tables etc but also of my watch and ring after which and all paid I found myself with only two gourds dollars remaining a sum which I reckoned would about cover the charges for going on board had I sought it there is no doubt the purse of some one or other of my friends would have been open to me but I thought such a procedure beneath me and adapted to create suspicion of my individual character and that even of the nation itself to which I belonged I therefore preferred depriving myself of everything and thus avoided a possible obliquery I had yet a few days to stay which I spent in visiting and walking about a singular procession to which the delay of my departure enabled me to be a witness on the octave of Corpus Christi day wasn't too curious a description to admit of my passing it over in silence at the head of this procession were seen six gigantic figures in paste board 20 feet high representing a male and female Indian a Negro and Negroes and a Spanish man and woman carried by shoe sticks and dancing and all amande these were succeeded by a stout fellow carrying a French figure made of straw with a distorted haunch and all its limbs out of joint this figure which is fixed at the end of a pole as on a pivot is made to move its limbs like the paste board Harlequins of children and its summer sets and awkward motions are a subject of a marryment to the Spanish populace follow this Harlequin aid 10 other fellows in the guise of fish with each a blown bladder with peas in it fastened to the end of a stick and with this they strike at random right and left whoever may be in their reach these purposes are precursors of a whale framed on a large wagon which is moved along by men beneath the exterior representing the whale these men likewise occasionally make the whale open and shut its mouth as if about to devour the silly fools afraid of it after these the different brotherhoods and religious orders each with the image of their founder in silver carried on a platform by six men march in regular order the residue of the procession presented nothing extraordinary I remarked another religious practice at Vera Cruz which will not appear less singular when the sacrament of the wafer is carried to the sick it is taken in a coach magnificently guilt and adorned with plate glass in the same manner as the carriages of state of sovereign princes it is drawn by mules for abreast which go a foot pace at each of the angles of the material is a lamp the person who carries the wafer sits at the extremity of the coach in a species of niche purposely made for him opposite is a priest his employment to drive away the flies that the person who carries the sacrament may not leave his hold of the picks which he carries in his two hands the coachman wears a great coat of scarlet with silver lace and silver buttons at Paris at the doors are two grenadiers and two microleys and behind the coach is followed by double basses, bassoons violins, guitars and other instruments escorted by a crowd of people during the procession the great bell of the church is sounded gently at last Wednesday arrived the day on which I had to embark I was not without some dread and in real this appeared to me the decisive day at daybreak I caused all my cases of plants as well as all my empty boxes series longissima rarem to be carried from my lodgings and everything before six had reached the gate of the quay I computed that at this hour the idol would be yet asleep that the soldiers and officers tired with a night guard would be at rest in their hammocks all unoccupied and inquisitive at the market my conjectures were well founded for if a few sailors be accepted three or four officers and the guard I met with very few in the streets I reached the port followed by 30 porters hired a boat and returning to the quay caused my cases filled with earth to be placed on the ground before the searchers thus far all went on very well but in a few minutes soldiers sailors and trades people all rushed to see the plants which the French botanist was bearing away the officer of the guard complimented me on my research and collection of herbs the searchers admired them in stupid astonishment but at the same time were so civil as not to sound any of the cases though they might have done so without injuring any of my plants and the head of the office satisfied with my readiness to suffer examination told me I might pass on it is a certain matter that I had it in my power to defraud the king of his dues and might have carried away in gold to the amount of a million or a dozen tolegas but I was so well known that no one suspected my being capable of such baseness I however made haste with my things lest someone more enlightened should play me either unintentionally or from design some scurvy trick or other the whole of my goods being now in the boat it put off and I followed it when I placed the cases in the chest which I locked and caused them to be securely fastened on the deck I recommended the sailors to be careful of them and as an entrance fee presented them with a couple of gourds which for the purpose I borrowed of the captain I returned now on shore to announce to the governor that I should go on board at eight o'clock I could not see him but held my promise affected and never set foot in his house again we did not however sail till several days after which gave me much uneasiness my plants shut up as they were necessarily greatly I had indeed at each side of the chests caused four holes to be made of four inches square that I might be provided against stormy weather when I should not be able to open the chests and I went on board twice every day in order to give them air still that I should be obliged to be separated from my dear plants to sleep away from them as I did for three nights this occasioned me indescribable torment and never certainly would a miser feel more pain from the fear of losing his gold the different trips on these three days cost me three piasters which made the hole I was indebted to the captain five to acquit myself of this debt I sold some very beautiful sleeve buttons and this done found myself poor as beas even Spanish dillatoriness seemed near its end the captain swore he would weigh anchor on Saturday that day I went on board according to custom to give air to my plants at five o'clock in the morning the captain's boat came on board to direct the pilot to weigh anchor imagining now his promise would be fulfilled I put on board the rest of my things but after waiting for the captain in vain till three afternoon I gave up hopes of sailing that day this night however I slept on board on Sunday the necessity of attending mass again delayed us I went on shore and took a last farewell of Mr. Furson I brought back with me on board likewise five or six cases of mold in order to give more room to my Halap and vanilla plants 8th June 1777 at length by eleven o'clock we quitted the port saluting the castle and the captain of the port with one gun and seven times exclaiming viva el re to which salute the captain ship answered by one exclamation only the weather was fine we had a light breeze and the log showed five knots when a leak from the city came after us which was soon alongside on first distinguishing it I had again as at the Havana the weakness to fancy that I was the object of its pursuit I conceived with some appearance of reason that the governor piqued at my having avoided the process verbal which he meant to draw up on my departure had sent an order for me to be put again on shore I was however soon undeceived and saw that it came merely to put a man on board who had failed of being ready at the time of the last boat putting off but this gave me an opportunity of learning a curious circumstance which was that on the captain's waiting on the governor to receive his orders for Campeche the latter made inquiry if I was on board and exacted a receipt from the captain for my body he likewise inquired if I seemed very melancholy to which question the captain answered in the affirmative it will be readily conjectured that this little narrative amused me greatly the whole of the bay abounds an excellent fish End of section 18 Section 19 of Travels to Oaxaca by Nicholas Joseph Thierry from Menonville an anonymous translation from the French this Librevox recording is in the public domain 9th June the night has been dreadful storms of thunder and lightning and torrents of rain seem to threaten a second deluge still we had little wind and the ship rolled dreadfully in the morning I had a very interesting conversation with the captain of the ship with whom it was now plain I should have every reason to be satisfied as observing me giving air to my plants I have found you out said he to me in a low tone of voice you most assuredly are not about to transport this cochineal to your own country but with a view of naturalizing it there the liberality he had shown towards me the frank manner of his accost determined me on confessing to him which it was now of no service to deny nor had I any room to repent my confidence but on the contrary by his assistance perfectly cajole the sailors who as well as the captain stood near me and one of whom more cunning than the rest had taken one of the insects and crushed it on a white deal board and observing the purple hue it gave cried out to his fellows why this is cochineal and cochineal is contraband to divert them from the idea they might else entertain on this subject the captain and myself planned a short scene which played off seriously before them estranged their fancies a hundred leagues they were taking one afternoon the captain being on deck with his officers and most of the seamen asked me in a grave an inquisitive manner what I meant to do with all those plants they are said I in as candid and easy a manner as I was capable of assuming they are intended for a preparation a remedy a remedy for what complaint for the gout indeed and pray what is the process of making it why this the nopals, cochineal vanilla and halap are pounded together in a silver mortar the mixture is afterwards boiled the expressed juice in proportion of an ounce at a time is administered to the patient internally and of the mark the mechanism is formed which is applied to the feet and are there no other ingredients in the prescription at this I seemed loath to tell the whole secret I however acknowledged that the balm of mecca was a component incense gold dust leaf silver and in a half whisper but loud enough to be heard without difficulty from lecid lint which has touched the relics of Santo Torribio this with a few Latin words I intermingled in my answers rendered my receipt exceedingly respectable in the minds of my auditors never indeed was nonsense listened to with more attention and the bamboozled sailors as well were convinced of the purity of my intentions as of the efficaciousness of the prescription I sighed however as much as I laughed at this ridiculous imposition but it was indispensable that I might parry the denunciations which might have been made against me otherwise at Compeche by someone or other of the crew we were no more than twenty leagues from Vera Cruz the wind at first very variable afterwards strong and then again a dead calm we distinguished the Compeche packet which sailed a little before us at three leagues to Leeward in the evening we saw a shark 10th June the whole night through it rained and the calm lasted till half past 3 p.m. I planted some vanilla halap and nopals which I had remaining three leaves of my large nopals loaded with cochineal rotted a first cause of anguish but I was somewhat consoled by having succeeded in settling the newborn cochineals upon other nopal leaves in a very healthy state at half past 3 we had the wind abaft making for the east south east we were accompanied throughout the whole day by a shoal of bonitos which played about our ship and which though against the wind frequently swam around the vessel this circumstance appears to me worthy of consideration I likewise saw a number of beautiful dorados the sky was clouded throughout the whole day the temperature highly pleasing 11th June the sun again made its appearance with increased splendor there was no rain in the night we made but little way and by reckoning were only 35 leagues from the point of departure from 9 till 3 a dead calm a clear sky and high temperature we were followed by the same escort of bonitos and by a number of other small fish which had followed us from Vera Cruz at 3 o'clock a wind from the north and we ran for knots additional losses gave new cause for regret I was obliged after collecting the cochineal to throw five other leaves of my large nopals into the sea what a mournful prospect for the future provided as it is threatened we should be two months out at sea 12th June the north wind continued till 3 in the morning when it veered to the southeast the night fine and without rain at 8 the wind sunk into a calm but a very light breeze from the north sprang up at 10 13th June the night beautiful and the morning lovely at 8 a calm a breeze at 10 rain at noon succeeded by a calm till 5 then had sight of the Brigantine for Campeche it advanced no faster than ourselves rain and a storm at 8 in the evening 14th June the night tranquil the wind changed from the north to the southeast though it blew hard it yet did not prevent our progress the whole morning squalls with rain by reckoning according to the pilot we were 15 leagues from surroundings and 40 from Campeche I lost the beautiful brood of Mexican parakeets which I had brought with me and three other leaves of my nopals my cochinals exacted all my attention it was their time of bringing forth I had nests to make for them nor was this all the hurricanes that blew threatened to fill all my cases utterly destructive of these plants I was obliged to stand sentry over them on these critical occasions and cover them with thick matting giving them air only by means of the small side openings were it not for the extreme tediousness of navigation in this gulf the voyage would have been pleasant but the winds which prevail at this season in alternation with calms being south southeast and north northeast they blow to no port whatever in a direct line we enjoyed the sight of an infinite number of dorados the most beautiful fish that swims the sea still we had not a single man on board who had any inclination to fish 15th June the whole of the following night we had a terrible hurricane the rain fell in large drops and with a noise like balls of lead the wind blew furiously from the northeast till three in the morning at five it got round to the southeast neither on this nor on the preceding day was their intervention of calm we had been upon soundings from ten in the morning and might expect to arrive a few days at Campeche we saw a great number of birds the color of the sea underwent a change and was of a greenish blue 16th June it blew hard all night with squalls of rain the morning gray the remainder of the day remarkably fine in spite of all my care my cases were washed by a wave the young cochineals were fastening on the cactus silvestris of Veracruz called tunas ten other of my apuncie had become rotten irremediable loss the whole night through adverse wind abundance of porpoises of enormous bulk 17th June saw land on the south and hoped to arrive the next day at Campeche but the wind which blew from shore kept us at a distance the whole day the lands low and nearly level with the sea a flock of boobies and frigate birds the color of the sea changed by stripes according to the greater or less depth of water at noon we had but nine fathoms the sky clouded the captain added this day to the fund of continually regenerating in quietude with which I was assailed he apprised me that at Campeche we should have guards and soldiers put on board and who knows how long we might lie off this place a hurricane still more violent than that of the 15th was experienced this night the thunder roared in loudest peals incessant flashes of lightning furrowed the atmosphere in every direction the rain fell in torrents and the whistling of the blast was even louder than the noise of the thunder and the waters dread and consternation seized upon everyone we were obliged to take in every inch of canvas fortunately my chests were well fastened and covered but for which precaution a due to my no pauls they would have perished with my plans and probably myself with them 18th June after the storm the wind blew strong from the south we must have been driven far indeed during the tempest for we had from 16 to 26 fathoms of water whereas the day before when we made land we had but six fathoms water and were only eight leagues from shore for in this part the number of fathoms floats pretty nearly the number of leagues from land the soundings lessening in gradual proportion as the distance becomes less we saw a shark and a number of birds 19th June the soundings various in proportion as the north carried us forward or the south drove us from shore it seemed as though we were under some enchantment and if this wretched country fled from our approach in thirteen days we had not been able to go more than ninety leagues this day we could not distinguish land though the line gave but six fathoms in the evening and though all night long we smelt the land and its flowers but we had a dead calm after the calm a gust of wind succeeding three fathoms of water and cast one of our anchors we had no rain for four and twenty hours 20th June this day we saw land by five in the morning it is more lofty eastward than towards the south at sunrise we raised anchor in order to get nearer into land and at seven we distinguish the town of Campeche south east it has no port but merely a bad open road liable to every wind and lying three leagues from the town which cannot be approached nearer by any vessel carrying more than ninety tons at nine we anchored the bylander of ninety tons which brought us from Veracruz was laden with maize for which the captain expected to find a market intending to replace it by a loading of dying wood which a Cape Francois would have paid him a considerable profit but in order to succeed great skill and circumspection were requisite as this was an act of smuggling and as smuggling is punishable with slavery and confiscation of property the captain sold his maize to great advantage as it was scarce but no doubt intoxicated with success he idled away his time and missed the opportunity of profiting to the full extent of his means for my part the delay to which he subjected us and the additional losses I every day sustained among my no-pals not less than forty of which I was obliged to throw into the sea were sources to me of extreme vexation I had moreover much room for complaint against the crew and for the purpose of acquainting the captain with their conduct I went on shore and thus had an opportunity of visiting the town San Francisco de Campeche is a town of a square form each side measuring upwards of twelve hundred yards it is perfectly well built of hewn stone in the Spanish style with rectilinear streets kept very clean and of tolerable breadth it is surrounded with curtains and bastions but is without ramparts or terraces the walls are thirty feet high by from five to six in thickness but have no false on the side toward the land an immense pueblo or suburb of Indians encloses it which much delighted me on account of the trees and thicket by which each house is surrounded the suburbs may contain about a thousand Indians the population of the town including the garrison with the citizens may be about three thousand money at this place is so rare that nuts of cacao form the currency for eight of these nuts you purchase an egg at the market and you are boarded at the inn for two rails the day debauchery is here prevalent to the same extent as wretchedness but its ministers are such as could please but sailors alone yet these so well that they reckon this a paradise such was the extremity of misery throughout all you could tan about six years back that according to the account even of the Spaniards themselves there died from want no less than forty thousand persons it is however doubtful not withstanding the immense extent of this province whether it ever contained so many inhabitants but on the contrary should it be true should any credit be due to the Spaniards when they give such a shocking list of deaths have we not to charge government with the most reprehensible neglect how can it have been careless to such degree as to suffer this province to remain so destitute of provision while with so much facility grain might have been supplied either from the Havana where all kinds of European corneabounds and which is but two hundred leagues distant or from Vera Cruz but eighty leagues away and where a similar plenty reigns this extensive region has the more need of assistance from the frequency of dearth the cause is to be attributed to the droughts so fatal to this rocky base and so frequent owing to the land lying low and the want of mountains to break the clouds which in consequence except where north winds encounter others from the south and occasion them to break over the land are constantly born out to sea should the months of May June and July those in which maize is sown unfortunately pass without rain all the hopes of the colonists are lost and they are left wholly destitute of resource the only trade carried is in stone sent to Vera Cruz and diewoods immense piles of which cut for upwards of thirty years are seen in different parts which the Spaniards prefer seeing wrought before their faces to selling to any interloper though they cannot possibly export them themselves the whole time I was there I saw but three brigantines and at no time perhaps is there a greater number here the culture of cacao is not allowed in this country I know not from what lamentable policy for it would succeed admirably cacao in consequence is so dear that the nuts or beans are used as money the poor who in consequence of the dearness of chocolate are deprived of the enjoyment which substitute for it the pips of the Zapota Marmue whose fruit is large as an egg and bitter as Colo Quintida I traversed the whole of the gardens in Campeche and found not one that was curious I culled here at hazard sixteen plants of two species of cactus without thorns which afterwards were of great use to me however on the 6th July the captain repaired on board with intention to put off to sea and within three days at farthest three barks were to bring us out to see the Campeche wood we were to take on board notwithstanding all my pains I was never able to procure either branches leaves or seeds of this tree to satisfy myself whether or no it is different from that we possess in our own colonies I paid a sailor beforehand to procure me some but they never came we were just on the point of weighing anchor when the master of a boat which had brought us in a stock of wood for cooking saw my no-pals and cochineal and told me that they were cultivated within six leagues of Campeche though I have strong doubt I nevertheless felt much vexed at not having had an opportunity of ascertaining whether it was true or not and in the former case of renewing my plants and recruiting my insects whether in hopes of other little presents in return whether as a compensation for the vexation I endured from his having made so long a stay the captain gave me the parrot not larger than a dove that ever perhaps was seen its beak yellow at the base and black at the extremity the whole of the body a bright green the cheeks and the circle round the eyes of a blood red the forehead shoulders and thighs of the same color the upper part of the head crowned with yellow the center white and the hinder part azure blue the wings green blue flame colored and purple finally the legs yellow the eyes blue and the iris yellow the captain more over presented me with a cardinal and three tiger's skins 11th July at length after a useless day of five days we found we must give up all hopes of the die wood coming on board the poor captain thus saw all his dreams of fortune vanish and in addition lost the twenty piasters he had paid down as earnest of the bargain to the person who was to have procured him the wood thus either owing to negligence or to want of management the unlucky man lost a profit of at least three thousand dollars for the wood at which Campeche fetches but three reels at the cape is worth three piasters I was exceedingly hurt that he had not made a confident of me at an earlier period as it struck me I might not only have given him good advice but have obtained for him a hundred ton of wood we weighed anchor at ten in the morning and with a wind from the southwest advanced in a direction east northeast at about half a league an hour at two o'clock the wind changed and we steered west southwest we were feigned to anchor at four in four and a half fathoms the whole night through it blew hard with much thunder but no rain 12th July after looking out for a wind but in vain the whole of the night it blew from the south at three in the morning we in consequence quickly raised anchor and made northeast with a fine sea and beautiful weather which continued till half past ten when we were becombed after advancing not withstanding about half a league by half past one we had a breeze from the northwest which was of much service the water now again changed color and from a bluish green became of an azure hue but at four o'clock the wind rounding to the northeast stopped our further advance and we cast anchor to avoid being thrown nearer the shore but not till as the day before we were within sight of land at nine o'clock after many threats of rain which however by no effect the wind veering again to the southwest we weighed anchor 13th July this day the wind sunk into a calm at ten o'clock in the morning during the time it lasted which was two hours and a half the Spaniards took it into their heads to fish they caught in the time 18 perch of a monstrous size the smallest of them weighing upwards of nine pounds it is the Perca Philadelphia described by Linnae this fish is of exquisite flavor and is caught in depths of about five fathoms with a hook two inches long and as thick as a crow's quill the bait is a piece of bacon, meat or entrails of fowls about a foot above the hook a ball of about a pound suspended to make the line sink the fisherman has rarely time to throw out lures on the top of the water about noon we had a breeze from the northwest when we set sail anew and at three again came into an anchor such is the navigation common along this coast which runs north and south the southeast drove us out to sea in the night and in the afternoon the northeast again sent us in to shore these are the winds predominant in these latitudes but the winds blow sometimes south or southwest and north or northwest when a vessel may make some way under favor of them it is requisite for two reasons to keep at not more than from four to eight leagues from the coast in the first place because at a greater distance from shore rocky shoals and other sand banks occur on which a vessel might be driven by the northeast wind and secondly because in the open sea winds being more uncommon and always as well as the currents at verse a voyage would be of eternal duration indeed no navigation in any part of the world is more difficult than that of the Gulf of Mexico should you leave soundings for the open sea you are engaged in perpetual currents should you keep in soundings you have only light winds and can make but four or five leagues in four and twenty hours I'm proceeding whether from the north or south seas toward Veracruz to the Gulf of Mexico it is not only necessary to reconnoiter the bank or soundings of Yucatan but also those of Florida the terms sondas or soundings is applicable to the whole of the sea of little depth which borders the Gulf of Mexico from Cape Catoche as far as and even beyond Cape Saint Augustine from the shore of from six to sixty leagues and in such gradation with respect to depth that from the deepest soundings that is to say in sixty-eight fathoms you may judge proceeding in shore how far you are from land the depth diminishing a fathom at each league so that at one league from shore there is so little more than three and sometimes but one water to this notice respecting the Gulf of Mexico is to be added that the north is the predominant wind and is felt here with more violence than in any part of America and with such in the months of October and November as to render these seas almost impassable end of section nineteen