JOURNEY FROM OTAGO TO MEXICO.

Otago Daily Times, Issue 1120, 24 July 1865, Page 5

JOURNEY FROM OTAGO TO MEXICO.

["Letter No. 2.} fhom jamaica to vera cruz and the capita!. of mexico. (To ihe Editor of the Uailt Timks) Citt of Mexico, 22nd March, 1860. Sik—l trust you have received my first letter from Jamaica, giving you a description of our journey from Otago thus far. At last the Liverpool steamer Crusader made its appearance, and a more wretched unseaworthy boat I was never in. It took us six days to reach Vera Cruz, and the only wonder is we reached that place at all, as a northern gale bad set in and she made plenty of water. The Gulf of Mexico is at any time a dangerous spot, on account of its numerous shoals, chiefly coral reefs, hut during a northern, gale it is one of the most dangerous places to be met with in any sea, in any part of the world. On our approaching Vera Crus gun after gun had been fired, besides the usual signal for a pilot; that useful individual was seen at last making way towards our steamer, which his boat reached with great difficulty. Half an. hour later we cast anchor under the guns of the famous old castle San Juaa do Ulloa, which stands on a rock facing Vera Cruz, at a distance of one mile. The French ilect lay at anchor close by. The town of Vera Cruz has quite an Oriental appearance from the sea, not unlike St. Jean D'Acre. It is sadly destitute of a hnrbor, 'ho anchorage being a mere roadstead, which is protected, however, by the shoals outride, and by the castle of St. Jiiiui de Ulloa. The nearest good anchorage is Sacrifieio", some miles to the southward, where the English ships of war are stationed. The eonftiskm on board on anchoring was very great. A French officer made his appearance to demand our passports and arms (both of which were aftei ards returned to the passengers iv town), as the place is still in a state of siege. Our fellow passengers, amongst whom were two English officers, in garrison at Jamaica, who had come over to see Mexico, landed at once. The captaia obligingly offered me to stay with my family till next d;iy, little thinking, however, that the proffered hospitality very nearij' cost the lives of some of us; for, having placed tlie ship's gig at our disposal to take Mrs W., my eldest daughter, a little boy of ours, and myself ou shore to pay a visit to a family in the towu—the northern gale, which had yet in during the morning, had increased in its fury to a degree that our friends wished us to remain in the town ; but having some of our children, including a little baby, on board the steamer, it was necessary for us to return, and the officer in charge of the gig with his men were of opinion they might i get us safely across. However, the large breakers were rolling in in such quick succession that they los,t all control over the boat, and on rounding the jetty a large wave went right over us, capsizing the boat, which sunk. At this critical moment a hirae lifeboat manned by Captain Wake, commander of li.M.'s ship Bulldog, Lieutenant Bougemont, and twelve sailors, which had been in the neighborhood, and perceiving our danger, had approached us, but a sandbank being in their way, they (the officers, with ten of the sailors) leaped into tue sea, swam towards v«, five rescuing Mrs Werner, the remainder my daughter, whilst one of our own boat's crew snatched my little boy out of my arm; I followed them, swimming towards their own baat, iv which —such was the violence of the gale —they managed, not without the greatest difficulty, to take us on board of our Bieamer, not without our having shipped several seas on the transit, n pump beiu£ kept at work all the time. The state in which, we arrived on board can be easily imagined; but, thanks to the kind attention of captain, officers, and steward we had nofurther inconvenience to suffer than the damage done to dress. I had since occasion to see the two officers named at the house of the English Consul at Vera Cruz, and can never sufficiently express my gratitude to these brave fellows, to whom alone I attribute the saving of my wife and two children from a watery grave. The town of Vera Cruz is regularly built' surrounded by walls, and has one or two good squares and some fine buildings, some of which sire palaces, belonging formerly to Spanish or Mexican nobles, and now mostty owned by English, German, or French merchants. As Mexican houses are mostly all alike all over the country, fond only differ in size, I will describe one, in which we met with some hospitality. It is on the Grand Plaza in Vera Cruz, and one of the best houses of the town.

First, you enter by a large Jiigb. doorway, wide enough to admit a Carriage, and; find yourself in a large courtyard, or " patio," with the house built round it. There is above this a second storey. Most houses in Mexico, except in the capita), have but one storey. There is a second doorway, communicating with a courtyard behind thi-s equally surrounded by two storeys of building, and again a third doorway leading to a third but . smaller courtyard behind the second. la the ground storey of the first division are generally offices, counting-houses, or warehouses ; in the second, the kitchen or other offices, and in the third, or "corral," the stabling, &c. The first floor, which is approached by a fine broad stone staircase, has a gallery all round inside the courtyard, which is a kind of gaiden, as it is lined all round by a double, sometimes :i triple, row of choice flowers in pots. Except in the front of the house, there are generally no windows, each room opening by glass doors on the gallery in front of it. There is some resemblance with the old houses of Pompeii, as we see them represented. AH houses arc flat roofed, and , paved with a species of planter over the bricks. This planter in a short time becomes very hard, and being polished with rough stones, until it is as smooth as marble, forni3 an impervious roof ajrainst the rain. We remained in. Vera Cruz six days, the rainy or unhealthy season, the season of the vomito

or yellow fever, only beginning in May and lasting till end of September, we could do Bo*jthout rkk; hut during the rainy season Vera Cruz is one of .the most unhealthy, dangerous places in the tropical regions. In fact, it is stated that the deadly atmosphere there affects Europeans who, after landing, merely pass through the town on tfreir' way to the interior. The heat was tolerable, but niosquitos were troublesome during our stay. We soon beard sufficient to convince us that the war is neither over, nor the country pacified ; for the second day after arrival we heard the firing of 120 guns from the fortress, to announce the taking by the French of a great Mexican stronghold, the city of Oaxaca. We heard betides of other fighting, and of constant robberies being perpetrated on the high roads. Several of the churches in Vera Cruz have'been appropriated by the Federal troops for magazines or cavalry stables. As a sign of the times, I may mention.that on walking one day into one of them, at Vera Cruz, which had been made useful for the French Commissariat Department, I saw that on the chief altar conic "Saints" which had formerly occupied prominent positions there, had been'most unceremoniously displaced, being all pushed into one corner close together, whilst sundry cases, apparently containing liquids, occupied their former places. The journey from Vera Cruz to the capital is effected by "diligences," having room inside for nine passengers. They are clumsy vehicles, built in the old Spanish fashion, but constructed immensely strong and for the express purpose of sustaining so rough a journey. We were warned by everybody not totake any but the most necessary articles of no value with us, as we should stand 90 chances out, o'.'m 100 of being stopped and robbed. .But to this by s.;me infatuation I would not consent. Whilst we prepared to leave the hulk of oar heavy luggage to be sent on after us by caravan, I placed every article of value we possessed in one of som-j trunks to go with us, loaded my two revolvers, determined in case of attack, if we should be outnumbered by the robbers, not to make even an attempt of using them ; but if we should be attacked, as often was the case, by only half a dozen individual, to defend myself and mine to the utmost. However, as will be seen presently, I had fortunately no need of defence, nor did we lose anything. The journey by diligence irom Vera Cruz to the capital, which takes three long days, if a day may be said to begin at four o'clock in the morning and end late in the evening, cost 35 Mexican dollars, or L 7 per head, with 25 lbs of luggage free, exclusive of railroad fare for the short distance from Vera Cruz which U finished. We left that city on the loth February, at halfpast 5 a.m., by rail, and travelled along till half-past 10 a.m., through an even, desolate, fearlully marshy country which gives one a very good idea of the unhealthy poisonous air those marshes must produce during the hot or rainy season under a tropical sun, and the real cause of that dreadtul scourge—the yellow fever. When we arrived at the station, where we had to exchange the railroad for the diligence, we found the country changing aid getting very pretty, but the road very rough indeed. There were three diligences starting with great pomp, each drawn by ten mules. The road on which we were now travelling looked like the bed of a mountain torrent, and quite as uneasy to travel. This road, at the time of the Spaniards, was very good; and the traveller sees many phases of its past goodness in the huge blocks of stone which have got loosened from their bed, and are now scattered over it in every direction. But, in regard to Mexican roads in general, let your readers understand that they are unrivalled in badness in any part of the world which I. have visited. During this day's journey, we saw an infinity of creepers and plants of every description, all covered with most brilliant flowers. The cactuses, however, are the most striking—their height varying from one to thirty feet. The commonest sort are the prickly pear, and one that grows perfectly straight, in a hexagonal form; of this last, nearly all the hedges are made in the neighborhood of the capital. The plants grow close together, and are quite impervious to mau or beast. The coiidtry now becomes better cultivated, and more populous. In this neighborhood is the large hacienda or estate which belonged to Santa Anna. The road is gradually ascending and getting out of the terra-calionte, or hot regions, we approached the beautiful scenery of the mountain pass of Ori^jiha, which has few equals even in Switzerland and Italy. Here night not only overtook us, but a dense fog spread around us; and it seems the conductors of the diligence are prepared for this, for they, at the next station, had several torch bearers, who pre■eeeded each diligence, as we slowly proceeded on our uphill-road, winding in and out among the mountains, here covered wi'h pine forests. As soon as we had en--tered this pass, we found ourselves, to our no small comfort, surrounded by detachments of French Zouaves, who acted as our escort; and the fact that every one of them proceeded carefully, his gun cocked ready for action, carried in hi 3 hands before him, appeared to us sufficient evidence not only as to the necessity of such an escort, but also of the dangerous parts we were passing through, to render so formidable an escort necessary. On several spots on our route we passed large bodies of troops camping there near the bivouac fires. It was a strange scene, such as is not easily forgotten—to see at torchlight such a cavalcade winding slowly along this wild mountain pass; and it did not at all require any particular stretch of imagination to make one feel a little "'queer" at times.

We passed through the centre of a district in which the maguey, or large Ameri-, can aloe, is extensively cultivated for the manufacture, of " pulque," which is the common drink of all Mexicans, and answers somewhat to English beer, though more intoxicating. All who once get accustomed to the smell and taste, like it much, and it is even said to become necessary to people after they have used it for many years. The manner of making this drink is as follows:—When the Aloe is just on the point of throwing up its huge stem from its coronet of leaves, deep amidst which its broad basis had been for some time forming, the farmer or gardener scoops out the whole pith, leaving the outer rind, and thus making inside the circle of leaves a bowl-like cavity about two feet deep and eighteen inches wide, according to the size of the plant. This cavity is soon filled with the sap, which should have gone to nourish the stalk, and as it flows is removed several

times daily for some; months, or as long as the tap yields. A portion of this juice (called honey-water, aguamicl) ia set apart to ferment and act as a sort of leaven or yeast tor the rest. This is called Madrepulcrue, tae mother of the Pulque, and when completely prepared (which it is in about a fortnight), a small portion of it is added to the skins or tubs containing the fresh aguamiel, and seta it fermenting in a day or so. A large plant is said to yield from ten to fifteen pints daily, and this for months. Others vary the process by putting a small quantity of mescal into the cavity in the plant to mix with the aap as it flows in, and this seems to answer very well. This process of milking the aloe is, as might be expected, a fatal one to the plant; but before it dies it always throws out shoots, which keeps up the stock. The fermentation is usually conducted in skins, and as soon as this is over the pulque is fit for drinking. To strangers both the taste and smell are horrible, something of the style of rotten eggs; but one soon gets accustomed to the flavor. The fresh sap, or aguamiel, is often drunk unprepared ; but it is too humble a tipple to be generally patronised. These aloes are of immense size. The common leaves are eight or ten feet in length, more than a foot in width, and thick in proportion. The stem often shoots up to twenty or thirty feet or more, and is as thick as a man's body.

We reached the town of Orizaba rather late, found a few hours' rest in a good hotel there, and started again at four o'clock a.m., and passed throngh several villages, but none of any importance. Numerous fine coffee and sugar plantations -we paw on our road, till we came in sight of two great volcanoes, " Popocatepetl" (17,715 feet above the sea), and"lztaccihuatl" (15,700 feet); and we ascended another mountain-pass, where we met agnin an escort, and besides, a large body of Austrian and Belgian troops, lately arrived in the colony, on their march to the capital. At six o'clock p.m. we reached Puebla, which is a large fine city, but of which we saw but little, as we had to leave it again next morning at four o'clock. The hotel at Puebla was also a good one. The next day we proceeded for some time through afinely cultivated plain, and towards noon, passing from the terra-templade or temperate region, into the terra fria, or cool region, we entered a large magnificent pine forest called the "Black Forest," the scene of two-thirds of the highway robberies in Mexico. The manner in which we were escorted through this forest made the danger of an attack by brigands apparent; for in the forest itself, which is free from underwood on both sides of the road, at some distance, as far as our eyes could reach, we saw mounted cavalry following and preceding us for our protection. The roadside is thickly sprinkled with crosses, either in memory of those who fell by the hands of the "Ladrones" or of the " Ladrones" themselves, who are often executed when caught on the spot where the robbery takes place. Our esco*t buzzed amongst the trees most industriously, but fortunately we remained unmolested, and at noon reached Rio Frio, the highest elevation on our road between Vera Cruz and the Capital, ior after leaving the place the road descends again towards the tnrra iemplada, in which the valley of Mexico is situated. As it is, one passed, between Vera Cruz and Mexico, all climates, with their various produce, from the tropical forests to the oak and pine forests. At Rio Frio, where plenty of military was stationed, we found a tolerable good dinner in a hotel kept by a German ; a mile or so brought us to the top of a steep hill, and then we began to descend into the valley of Mexico. As we got out of the forest the view at once opened upon us, and it is unquestionably one of the finest sights one will see in a lifetime ; an immense valley, some fifty miles long by upwards of thirty broad, surrounded by magnificent mountains, with two large lakes and several smaller ones scattered over it. In Montezuma's time the valley was nearly all lake, but the water has now contracted very much, and but a small specimen remains of what it once was. We descended very rapidly, and after reaching the bottom some thirty miles of flat road brought us to Mexico. There are myriads of snipes and wild ducks here. One of the lakes is salt. Mexico, with its numerous churches built like mosque?, has a fine oriental appearance from a distance. Wu entered it at six o'clock in the evening, and driving through the faubourgs were amazed as we suddenly emerged into the grand Plaza, with its fine old Cathedral and the Imperial Palace, and then passed some finer streets than Paris or BrusEells could boast of. We soon afterwards entered the courtyard of the hotel " Itcrbide," where we lound our fellow passengers from Jamaica (the English officers who had preceded us from Vera Cruz) waiting, they obligingly had secured for U3 the only three rooms out of 160 in the hotel, else we should not have easily been able to procure room in any hotel —so full Mexico is of strangers at "this moment. We were soon installed in our apartments in this hotel, which was formerly a Palace of the Emperor " Iterbide," and is of immense size. It contains not less than five court yards, each surrounded by buildings several storeys high, has 160 rooms, and beds for nearly 250 people. This immense establishment was crowded with people belonging to at least seven or eight nations —a good many Freuch and German General Officers ; the Austrian and Belgian Ambassadors lived there temporary, as well as His Holiness the Pope's internuntio; and a goodly number of Americans, English, French, and Germans, besides Mexicans and Spaniards, were in the place, which place at first greatly annoyed, but afterwards amused me; for once in it, you have the greatest difficulty of getting out again, or once out, you have no small trouble to find your quarters again ; for the number of staircases, galleries, passages, courtyards, ups and downs, makes such \ labyrinth of the place—that if one rms an appointment at a certain place for a certain hour, it is well to allow a quarter of an hour's time first to find your way out of the place. We had to stay a month in this hotel before we could procure and furnish a private dwelling, for furnished houses or apartments are as yet not to be met with here.

Mexico is certainly a large fine city, with long, wide, and perfectly straight streets ; very fine shops and numerous palaces. The position of the city is magnificent, in relation to its surrounding scenery and prospect. The grand valley in which it ia situate ia everywhere

bounded by an unbroken chain of lofty mountains, girding it arid, its lakes like a wall, with the majestic Popocatepetl towering over all. Owing to the straightness of the streets, some portion of this mountain boundary is visible from every quarter of the city; and from the extreme clearness of the atmosphere, the most distant part of the chain appears almost as if it abutted on the vista of houses through which you are looking. Many of the streets are very good, and most of them tolerable. Many of the houses are also fine; some even splendid. They are mostly three stories high, and have galleries on their front. The house of Cortes, and many of the original buildings erected at the restoration, still remain. The Cathedral is a large handsome church on the grand square, the Plaza; on which, in front of the Emperor's Palace, twice a-week, a music band of 80 Austrians plays for a couple of hours in the evening. There, at all events, the English, French, and German languages are as much heard as the Spanish. Prisoners of war are being constantly brought into the capital. The second day after our arrival, I witnessed au interesting sight, at eight in the morn- | ingr, near our hotel. A few days before a large detachment of French troops had been so successful as to surprise and capture one of the most daring brigand chiefs, Romero, whom they have been after for a long time, but who always managed to steer clear of them. His daring exploits gave the French army X ere much trouble. He was at last made a prisoner with 58 of his band (the others managed to escape), and that morning with all of them, arms, munitions of war and baggage, brought into Mexico by a battalion of French Zouaves, drums beating. Romero himself was sitting on his mule, which was led by a Zouave, whilst another Zouave marched at his side, holding in his right hand the end of a piece of rope, the other end of which was fastened with a noose, most uncomfortably for the bearer of it, round his (Romero's) neck, who no doubt felt little inclination to try an escape under such straightening circumstances. It was certainly a strange sight to see this bandit thus sitting on his mule, wrapped up in his poncho, which is to the Mexican what the plaid is to the Highlander, and covered with his broadbrimmed sombrero. Behind him were the 58 of his band, and a more rascally set of cut-throat-looking fellows I never beheld. Then followed mule after mule ladea with baggage, anne, &c, &c. His account with this world is now closed, for the monster who butchered men, women, and children indiscriminately, was arraigned before a court-martial, and a week ago, together with several of his followers, shot at six o'clock a.m., in one of the public squares of the capital. The others are on their way to French Cayenne, in which latter retreat they no doubt will soon become harmless to tbe travellers in Mexico. Others have been shot since, and no doubt these will not be the last yet. To say that the country is perfectly pacified, I think it not in my power to do, if I will give you a fair opinion. I prefer, therefore, to reserve to myself to communicate to you in a third lettter more particulars as to the state of affairs here. I will only add, that the Government is willing, as soon as it can do so with perfect security to persons and property, to encourage immigration, and my honest belief is ihere is not a country on the face of the globe which offers greater inducements to immigrants than this, provided always it is in a more settled state to what it is at present. Its resources arc boundless, its climata the finest, its immense tracts of yet uncultivated lands, the best and richest anywhere to be found, its mineral wealth not half yet explored, and its good western seaports now being properly opened, Mexico, as it lays between two great oceans, halfway between China and Europe, will not retrograde. It may have no doubt to pass through one more crisis, but " onward it will go. The eyes ot the world are once more directed and attracted to it." What the French army began, an immense stream of immigration from America, Europe, and other parts of the world, will fully accomplish, paralyse Mexican brigandage, and reap the benefit of cultivating and developing the resources of the country at large, of which the Mexicans have proved themselves incapable.—l am, &c, J. W—b—b