Category: Travel Writing

Anahuac : or, Mexico and the Mexicans, Ancient and Modern

Cuba. Volantes. A Cuban Railway. Voyage. Passports. Isle of Pines. Mosquitos. Pirates. Runaway slaves. Baths of Santa Fé. Alligators. The Cura. Missionary Priest. Florida Colonists. Blacks in the West Indies. Chinese and African slaves.

Chapters

16. Chapter 16

We went one morning to the house of our friend Don Pepe, and were informed by the servant as we entered the courtyard that the niño, the child, was up stairs waiting for us. “Th...

21. Chapter 21

It was like getting home again to reach Mexico, we had so many friends there, though our stay had been so short. We were fully occupied, for weeks of hard sight-seeing are hardl...

24. Chapter 24

The mountain-slopes which descend from the Sierra Madre eastward toward the sea are furrowed by _barrancas_—deep ravines with perpendicular sides, and with streams flowing at th...

18. Chapter 18

Across the lake of Tezcuco is Tezcuco itself, a great city and the capital of a kingdom at the time of the Conquest, and famous for its palaces and its learned men. Now it is an...

19. Chapter 19

Much too soon, as we thought, the day came when we had arranged to leave Tezcuco and return to Mexico, to prepare for a journey into the tierra caliente. On the evening of our r...

15. Chapter 15

Some thirty years ago, Don Agustín Yturbide, the first and last Emperor of Mexico, found that he wanted a palace wherein to house his newly-fledged dignity; and began to build o...

23. Chapter 23

We reached Puebla in the afternoon, and found it a fine Spanish city, with straight streets of handsome stone houses, and paved with flag-stones. We rather wondered at the _pasa...

20. Chapter 20

A little before dark we came to the hacienda of Santa Rosita de Cocoyotla, another sugar-plantation which was to be our head-quarters for some days to come. We presented our let...

14. Chapter 14

On the 8th of March, we went on board the “Méjico” steamer, American-built, and retaining her American engineers, but in other respects converted into a Spanish vessel, and now...

22. Chapter 22

The wet season was fast coming on when we left Mexico for the last time. We had to pass through Vera Cruz, where the rain and the yellow fever generally set in together; so that...

17. Chapter 17

While we were away at the Real del Monte, the news had reached Mexico that Puebla had capitulated, and that the rebel leader had fled. The victory was celebrated in the capital...

13. Chapter 13

In the spring of 1856, I met with Mr. Christy accidentally in an omnibus at Havana. He had been in Cuba for some months, leading an adventurous life, visiting sugar-plantations,...

12. Chapter 12

Barrancas. Indian trotting. Flowers. Armadillo. Fire-flies. Singular Fandango. Epiphytes. The Junta. Indian Life. Decorative Art. Horses. Jalapa. Anglo-Mexicans. Insect-life. Mo...

4. Chapter 4

Tacubaya. Humming-birds and butterflies. Aztec feather-work. Bullfight. Lazoing and colearing. English in Mexico. Hedge of organ-cactus. Pachuca. Cold in the hills. Rapid evapor...

9. Chapter 9

Museum. Fate of Antiquities. War-God. Sacrificial Stone. Mexican words naturalized in Europe, &c. Chamber of Horrors. Aztec Art. Wooden Drums. Aztec Picture-writings. The “Man-f...

7. Chapter 7

Horses and their training. Saddles and bits. The Courier. Leather clothes. The Serape. The Rag-fair of Mexico, Thieves. Gourd water-bottles. Ploughing. Travelling by Diligence....

8. Chapter 8

Cocoyotla. Indian labourers. Political Condition of the Indians. Indian Village and huts. Cotton-spinning. The Indian Alcalde. Great Cave of Cacahuamilpán. Optical phenomenon. M...

11. Chapter 11

Puebla. The Pasadizos. Revolutions in Mexico. Festival of Corpus Christi. Mexican clergy. Their incomes and morals. Scourging. Religion of the People. Anomalous constitution of...

6. Chapter 6

To Tezcuco. Indian Canoes. Sewer-canal. Water-snakes. Salt-lakes. A storm on the lake. Glass-works. Casa Grande. Quarries. Stone Hammers. Use of Bronze in stone-cutting in Mexic...

10. Chapter 10

A travelling companion. Mexicans who live by their wits. Jackal-masks, &c. Mexican words used in the United States. Miraflores. Cotton-factory. Sacred Mount and Cypress-tree. Ra...

2. Chapter 2

Players and Political Adventurers. Voyage. Yucatan. Slave-trade in Natives. The Ten Tribes. Vera Cruz. Don Ignacio Comonfort. Mexican Politics. Casualties. The City of the Dead....

3. Chapter 3

Palace-hotel of Yturbide. Site and building of Mexico. Changes in the Valley of Mexico. Dearth of Trees. Architecture. Drunkenness. Fights. Rattles. Judas’s Bones. Burning Judas...

5. Chapter 5

A Revolution. Siege and Capitulation of Puebla. Military Statistics. Highway-robbery. Reform in Mexico. The American war. Mexican army. Our Lady of Guadalupe. Miracles. The riva...

1. Chapter 1

Cuba. Volantes. A Cuban Railway. Voyage. Passports. Isle of Pines. Mosquitos. Pirates. Runaway slaves. Baths of Santa Fé. Alligators. The Cura. Missionary Priest. Florida Coloni...