The probability is, with regard to this very law, of which I have before spoken, that it was never intended to go into full effect. It was a mere money-getting experiment—a contrivance to levy black mail, in the name of the state, upon the foreign residents. They took it for granted, while passing the law, that the parties against whose interests it was aimed, would at once propose to buy off, and that large bribes would be offered to secure exemption from its effects. And the only chagrin they experienced, in finding themselves out-generaled by a sagacious adversary, arose from the necessity of relinquishing the expected booty.
But let me not longer detain the reader from his promised introduction to the Talismanic Images, the ugly little divinities of the ancient dames of Anahuac. Ecce Dii Penates!
CHAPTER XI
EXCURSION ON THE TAMISSEE RIVER. CHAPOTÉ, ITS APPEARANCE IN THE LAKES AND THE GULF OF MEXICO.
Once more in a canoe.—The Tamissee river.—Fertility of its banks.—Wages on the plantations.—Magnificent trees.—Mounds on Carmelote creek.—Entertained by a Yankee.—Character and condition of the people.—The Chapoté—Observed on the lakes in the interior of Mexico.—Seen also in the Gulf.—Article in Hunt's Merchants' Magazine.—Speculations of the writer upon the Gulf Stream.—Supposed connection with the Pacific ocean.—Objections to this theory.—Another view of the matter.—Insects.—Return to Tampico. The city in mourning.
It was not enough for me to know that I had arrived at Tampico. I soon became uneasy; and, being desirous to make the best use of my time, my thoughts were immediately turned upon resuming my paddle in some other direction. Accordingly, in the evening of an early day, I found myself once more in a canoe, with an Indian for a companion, going up the Tamissee River, for the purpose of visiting the creeks that empty into it at different points, and of ascertaining what ruins might be found in their vicinity.
This river rises at the foot of the mountains near Victoria, and falls into the Panuco at Tampico. It is navigable about forty leagues, for any vessel that can pass the bar, at which the depth of water is only eight or nine feet. The average depth of the stream is eight fathoms,—and a ship of a hundred guns, might haul up close to the side of its banks. This river rises and falls but little, and there are no towns situated upon its margin. Its crystal waters are well stocked with fish, of various kinds. The scenery, on either side, is exceedingly beautiful, opening occasionally, as you pass along, the most picturesque landscapes, and then completely embowering you in the shade of the luxuriant trees, that overhang the stream.