But the American measures were not simply negative. Worth, who became governor as soon as the town surrendered, distributed free rations among the people, and prevented extortion by establishing a fair scale of prices for eatables. A large force of laborers was employed at liberal wages to clean the streets and the Augean castle of Ulúa. Assured of protection the shops reopened promptly. In ten days the general effects of the bombardment appeared hardly noticeable. Freed from the exactions of their officials and military chiefs and rapidly gaining confidence in our intentions, the people seemed like new men. Commerce, favored by the low American duties, took on fresh life. Although anti-Catholic sentiment was raging in the United States, Scott and some of his principal officers attended mass and even marched in the processions; and the soldiers were bidden to salute not only the tasselled cane of the magistrate but the cassock of the priest.[30]
Worth soon moved on with Scott’s army; but his successor was described by the British consul as deserving “all praise.” Those who followed him did perhaps equally well;[28] all branches of the public service were maintained; the good-will of the citizens was acquired and held; and Lerdo de Tejada, one of the best statesmen and historians of Mexico, has declared that Vera Cruz had to suffer scarcely anything from the American occupation except the humiliation of foreign rule, while profiting substantially in several respects.[30]
These results were achieved, too, under serious and almost crippling embarrassments. In some regards the city was highly agreeable. Fish more resplendent than gems lay always in the market. A long list of delicious fruits and vegetables graced each its proper season. Often a duet of the military band and the mocking-birds enchanted the ear. To sip a sherbet at noonday—all the curtains drooping over the balconies, the blue sky gray with excess of light, the blackbirds panting with beaks wide open and wings partly spread, the lépero drunk with sleep in the shadow of a wall, a hush over the docks, a stillness in the market—had an exotic fascination; and an evening stroll round the plaza or along the beach at Vergara, where the principal camp lay, with the soft, languid, lingering breeze of the Gulf on one’s face and every star asking to be counted, was a delight one could not soon forget.[30]
This region, however, was a favorite hunting-ground, not only of the yellow fever, but of diseases even more fatal.[29] A few slices of the fragrant Córdoba pineapple, washed down with a glass of the almost irresistible brandy, left one hardly time to make a will. Through the long day a huge ball of fire called the sun poured down an intense heat, and at night the mosquitos were numberless. The story of the invalids was long and sad; and sadder yet the tale of many a gallant soldier-boy, full of thoughts of the loved ones, who breathed his last sigh in the crowded wards of a hospital—alone.[30]
At Córdoba, where the lanes blazed with small red roses, the sentiment was intensely Mexican, and the authorities ordered that on the approach of the American forces as many of the inhabitants as possible should leave town with everything belonging to the state that could be of service. But the people were mostly satisfied with shutting themselves up during the brief stay of General Bankhead, and the merchants did not go so far as that. The legitimate rights of the conqueror were asserted, but the American commander perhaps made full compensation for this by requiring the city council to reduce the expenses of administration. Care was taken to provide for the punishment of all disorders, and in particular for all interference with religious observances. After Bankhead left, hearing that some of the garrison were plundering, he threatened to send an entire battalion, if necessary, to apprehend the culprits.[31]
On higher ground farther west lay Orizaba, sombre yet beautiful amidst its orchards, gardens, palm groves, orange trees and rich fields of tobacco and sugar-cane, like a proud Spanish dowager surrounded by her grandchildren. Here the troops helped themselves occasionally to fruit and cane, injured trees and committed some graver offences. The consequence was that soldiers were forbidden to leave the town except on service and the officers commanding guards in the outskirts had to arrest every man guilty of such acts or pay for the damages, and in either case were held responsible for disobedience and neglect of duty.[32]
THE STATE OF THINGS AT JALAPA
Of all the places occupied by American troops in Mexico the most delightful was Jalapa. In fact, probably a more delightful place is nowhere to be found. For natural attractiveness it surpasses even Taormina, Kandy and Nikko, the beauty-spots of Sicily, Ceylon, Japan. The abundant water was excellent, which could rarely be said of Mexican towns, and ice from Orizaba Mountain could be had to cool the abundant refreshments. The mercury never stood high and never low. Spring was almost the only season. The foliage always looked new and exuberant, and blossoms were constantly opening as if with ever fresh surprise.[34]
From the plaza one gazed into a broad valley tapestried with many-hued verdure. Here palms, live-oaks, magnolias, tamarinds and aguacates—often enmeshed with beautiful and sometimes with aromatic vines—gracefully sheltered the azalea, the verbena, the poppy, the jasmine and countless varieties of geraniums and roses. Here such exquisite plants as the vanilla, heliotrope and tree-lily exhaled with unceasing generosity their delightful odors. Here, amid ancient forests, gorges curtained with exotic ferns and orchids extended to mysterious depths teeming with all manner of strange, fascinating growths. And when, after long surveying this Eden, or descending to wander far in its mazy paths, one’s eye rose to a broad belt of pines and firs clothing jagged sierras, and at last, above their rich green, beheld a slender but enormous pyramid of snow, the peak of Orizaba, heaven-high and resplendent against the deep, tropical blue, it seemed as if nature had lavished on this chosen spot the whole diapason of her beauty. Music hath charms to soothe; and such loveliness, grace, perfume and grandeur, combined, were splendidly suited to still the passions of war.[34]
Scott and the first American troops proved worthy of this paradise. Nobody was molested. The officers lodged only in vacated houses. The soldiers tried to make friends among the townsfolk. Our generals attended the funeral of a worthy Mexican officer killed at Cerro Gordo. Gold and silver flowed in streams—brighter than “Abana and Pharpar, rivers of Damascus”—that reached the humblest cottage. Many of the people wept when Scott marched away.[34]