Clavigero, a native of Vera Cruz, a voluminous and elaborate writer on the same subject, whose works are well known and highly approved, has rectified many of the inaccuracies of foreign writers, and done much to concentrate the scattered rays of native tradition, and give form and substance to previous antiquarian researches.
Antonio Gama, a native of Mexico, and a lawyer, was a ripe scholar, distinguished for patient investigation, severe accuracy, and an impartial desire to arrive at the truth, without reference to a preconceived opinion or theory. He was a thorough master of some of the native languages, and, to an extent as great as the nature of the case admitted, of the native traditions and hieroglyphics. These, together with their systems of arithmetic, astronomy and chronology, he has illustrated with uncommon acuteness and ability. His works are but little known, but of great value to those who would follow a safe guide amid the labyrinths of antiquarian lore.
Other worthy names might be added to these. But let these suffice to show that there is nothing in the climate unfavorable to letters. It is a rich, a glorious field; but, trampled by tyranny, or convulsed with revolutions and civil wars, there has scarcely been a moment, during the present century, when the scholar, however much disposed to retirement, could close the door of his study, and feel himself secure from interruption. It is hardly fair, therefore, to measure the literary capacity of Mexico, by its present fruits, or to judge of her scholars by the issues of the Press in such turbulent times.
There are but few newspapers in the country, and these are not conducted with the most consummate ability. The bombastic, bragadocio style, with which they are often inflated, if it be not intended for carricature, might almost vie with Baron Munchausen's happiest specimens of that kind of composition. The comments of the government organ, published at the capital, are often extremely bitter upon every thing which relates to the United States. In some remarks respecting the monument commemorating the battle of Bunker Hill, the editor observes,—"The people of Boston make much ado about its completion"—and then adds,—"if Mexico should raise monuments for all such trivial occurrences in her history, the whole country would be filled with them." A little farther on, speaking of the Peninsular War, he says,—"they may do—but Wellington never yet knew what it was to face a breast-work of Mexican bayonets."!!! Alas! for Wellington, and the glory of British arms! What was Waterloo to San Jacinto!
On preparing to leave Tampico, I experienced considerable difficulty, and no small expense in procuring the necessary passports. Stamps, for permits of baggage, were required. My baggage had to undergo a very annoying examination, with a view to the discovery of specie that might be concealed therewith, which pays an export duty of six per cent. To such a provoking extent is this examination carried, that the insolent officers thrust their hands, like Arabs, into the bottoms of your pockets, in pursuit of your small loose change.
I took passage in the Mexican schooner Belle Isabel, for New Orleans, in company with twenty other passengers. We embarked in the river, and, though hoping for a short passage, it was with sensations of discomfort, amounting almost to consternation, that I ascertained, after every thing was on board, that water and provisions had been laid in, sufficient only for a passage of forty-eight hours. After protesting to the American Consul, and lodging my complaint with the Captain of the port, against the villainous purpose of the master and consignee of the vessel, to put us upon allowance, and experiencing much delay, some further supplies were sent on board. We remained in the river some time, being unable to pass the bar, in consequence of the shallowness of the water in the channel. The annoyances experienced from the vermin, with which the vessel abounded, and the motley character of the passengers, made up of negroes, mulattoes, and Mexicans, rendered my position quite intolerable; and even sickness, which filled up the measure of my troubles, was a not unwelcome excuse for parting with such disagreeable associates.
This affords me a favorable opportunity, and I embrace it with heartfelt pleasure, of paying, in part, a debt of gratitude to Captain Chase, the American Consul at Tampico, and his accomplished and kind-hearted lady, who, during a severe and protracted illness, attended me with a kindness that will not soon be forgotten. The tender and patient attentions, which they bestowed upon a sick countryman, in a strange land, were such as might have been expected from a brother and sister, and were rendered doubly valuable to the recipient, by the full hearted cheerfulness and benevolence which characterized them. God bless them both! May they never want a friend and comforter in any of the trials that may fall to their lot.
More fortunate in my next attempt to leave Tampico, I secured a passage in the Pilot Boat Virginia, and, after a short and agreeable voyage, arrived at the Crescent City on the 8th of June, satisfied, for the present, with my adventures, and glad to greet the kind faces of familiar friends, and share the comforts which can only be found at home.
At home! yes, here I am once more, in my own quiet home, having performed three voyages by sea, embracing a distance of some two thousand miles, besides sundry rambles and pilgrimages in the interior, and all this, with only two "hair-breadth 'scapes by field or flood"—scarcely enough, I fear, to spice my narrative to the taste of the age.