[CHAPTER III.]
THE AMERICAN INVASION OF TO-DAY.—MONTEREY AS A HEALTH RESORT; ITS SITE AND SURROUNDINGS.—THE CATHEDRAL AND OTHER PUBLIC BUILDINGS.—CAPTURE OF MONTEREY BY GENERAL TAYLOR.—SHORT HISTORY OF THE MEXICAN WAR.—FROM CORPUS CHRISTI TO MONTEREY.—THE ATTACK ON THE CITY.—CAPTURE OF THE FORTS AND THE BISHOP'S PALACE.—FRANK RECITES A POEM.—LIEUT. U. S. GRANT AND WHAT HE DID AT MONTEREY.—A STORY ABOUT JEFFERSON DAVIS.—HOW JOHN PHENIX ESCAPED CASHIERING—SIGHTS OF THE CITY.—THE MARKET-PLACE AND WHAT WAS SEEN THERE.—FRUITS, BIRDS, POTTERY, ETC.—IN A MONTEREY HOUSE.—A PALATIAL RESIDENCE.
VIEW OF MONTEREY.
The first opportunity to see a Mexican city was afforded to our friends at Monterey, and they fully enjoyed it. Every walk along the streets and every drive in the city and its vicinity was full of interest, and there was little that escaped their observation. Being the most northern city of Mexico, Monterey has been much invaded by Americans during the last decade, and many citizens of the United States are established there in various lines of business.
The city has been extensively advertised as a health resort, and considerable numbers of invalids have gone there; a fair proportion of them have breathed their last in Monterey or its neighborhood, but the same may be said of many other health resorts in different parts of the world. For the present, invalids would do well to think twice before going to Monterey or any other part of Mexico in the hope of recovering their health, as the accommodations for them are hardly such as they require. A Mexican hotel may do well enough for a vigorous man, but it is ill-suited to one who should be shielded from draughts, needs to sit in front of a comfortable fire, and has a dread of damp walls and similar adversities. The cooking is suited to robust stomachs rather than to delicate ones, and the attendance leaves much to be desired.
