The romance of Mexico’s early history, the travail and triumph of Montezuma and Malinche, of Pagan teocali and Christian cross, stirred my imagination and aroused my interest to highest pitch, while the present progressiveness of Mexico’s people, the enlightenment of her leaders, the noble efforts she has made, and is now making to keep step with the procession of human progress, excited my sympathy.
Nor have I ceased to marvel at the extraordinary geographic and climatic gifts which nature has so lavishly bestowed upon this favored land; a country where every climate from the heats of Yucatan to the cool airs of Quebec are brought together within the compass of a journey of a single day; where teeming tropics and fertile highlands alike pour out their fruitfulness for the use of man; where alone upon the North American Continent has beneficent nature presented conditions which made it possible for mankind to develop an indigenous civilization of advancing type;—upon these plateaus existed well-built stone-and-mortar cities centuries before Cortez and the Spaniard set foot upon her shores; here successful agriculture has prevailed in uninterrupted continuity for a thousand years; here precious metals have been dug and worked by man for unnumbered centuries; and upon these salubrious highlands more than a mile above the sea, beneath the shadows of her snow-capped Sierras, man has developed, and may yet develop, the highest energy of the temperate zones.
I confess that despite a general knowledge, I yet entered Mexico ignorant, sadly ignorant, of one of the most splendid portions of the earth’s domain, and while my glimpses of this great country have necessarily been limited and partial, yet I have seen enough of her mineral and agricultural wealth, the solidity and comfort of her cities, the vigor and intelligence of her people, to assure me that the Republic of Mexico is destined to be no puny factor in promoting the advancement of the world, as well as the further increase in riches and power of the sister Republic wherein I dwell.
KEY WEST LIGHT, THE SOUTHERN EXTREMITY OF THE UNITED STATES
Nor has my transitory glimpse of Cuba, “Pearl of the Antilles,” as she is, caused me the less to marvel at the abounding fertility which constitutes her a veritable garden, and the charm of her climate, free of all frosts, yet temperate enough, amidst the cooling breezes of the all-surrounding seas, to make her the home of white races which hold fast to their primitive energies although within the tropics. While in imagination I behold her, at no distant date, taking her proud place among the galaxy of States of the great Republic of the North and vying with the most splendid of them in opulence and power.
INDEX
- Acambaro, [46-87]
- Acapulco, Highway to, [99]
- Alamo, The, [41]
- Anahuac, Valley of, [52]
- Ario, [107]
- Arrive at City of Mexico, [54]
- Azteca Mines, [135]
- Balsas, The Rio, [152]
- Boys, The Little Stolen, Etc., [214]
- Buena Vista, Battlefield of, [46]
- Bull Fight, A, [75]
- Cabaña La, The Fortress, [236]
- Cathedral, City of Mexico, [61]
- Charleston-Kanawha, Leaving, [15]
- Chocolate, A Cup of, [159]
- Church, Roman, [61-63]-[178]
- Churumuco, [155]
- Cima, La, [52]
- Comments on Municipal Methods, [172]
- Copper Industry and Utensils, [102]
- Cotton Lands of Mississippi, Louisiana, Texas, [21-40]-[43]
- Crossing Florida Strait, [273]
- Cruelty of the Spanish Blood, [118]
- Cruelty, Spanish, Burying alive, [237]
- Cuban, A Mansion, 232
- Cuernavaca, [188]
- Cuyaco, The Hacienda La, [123]
- Cuyaco, The Rancho, [159]
- Descending La China Mine, [137]
- El Padre, [95-187]
- English, Spread of the Language in Mexico, [174]
- Fiesta of Our Lady of Guadaloupe, [165-185]
- Fonda Diligencia, [97]
- French Market, New Orleans, [31]
- French Quarter, The Vieux Carré, [30]
- Garcia, Señor Don Licénciado Vicente Garcia, [170]
- Guadaloupe, Fiesta of Our Lady of Guadaloupe, [165]
- A Guest of “Señora General” Wood, [228]
- Gulf of Mexico, Crossing the, [212]
- Habana, [220]
- Havana, A Private House in, [231]
- Havana, Markets of, [225]
- Havana, The Opera House, [228]
- Hotel Concordia, [93]
- Hotel Iturbide, [55]
- Hotel Jardin, Mexico City, [264]
- Hotel Jardin, Morelia, [181]
- Hotel Metropolitán, [204]
- Hotel Morellos, [114]
- Hotel Pasaje, [221]
- Hotel St. Charles, [25]
- Incidents in Land of Heat, [161]
- Inguran Mines, [117]
- Italians in Mississippi, Etc., [22]
- Iztaccihuatl, volcano of, [53]
- Izus Hernandes, Our Mozo, 95
- Jackson Square, Reflections on History of, [29]
- Jefe Politico, A, [109]
- Jesuits in Morelia, [180]
- Jorullo, Volcano of, [122]
- Kentucky, Passing through, [17]
- Lakes—
- Chalco, [53-69]
- Cuitzeo, [88]
- Patzcuaro, [88-99]
- Tezcoco, [53-69]
- Xochimilco, [53-69]
- Llaños, Crossing the, [143]
- Laredo, [43]
- Lawyer, A Lawyer of Ario, [115]
- Military Macaws, [131]
- Mantillas, Buying, [202]
- Mariel, [264]
- Masonic Bond, Strength of in Mexico, [50]
- Masso, General, and the Revolution, [249]
- Matanzas, [254]
- Memphis, [21]
- Mexico City, First Impression of, [56]
- Mexico City, Characteristics of, [65]
- Mexican Travelers, [160]
- Michoacan, The Congress of the State of, [168]
- Mining, Antique Methods of, [129]
- Mina La China, The China Mines, [136]
- Mina La China, Descending the, [137]
- Mina El Puerto, [145]
- Mines, The Inguran, [117]
- Mississippi, Traversing State of, 23
- Monterey, [45]
- Monterey, Passing through, [45]
- Moonlight, Brilliancy of, [100]
- Morelia, [89]
- Morelia, Description of, [172]
- Morelia, Life in, [176]
- New Orleans, Life and Color of, [25]
- New Orleans, Water Traffic, [37]
- Noria Mines, [134-150]
- Nuevo Laredo, [44]
- Orizaba, Volcano of, [203]
- Orphans from the Reconcentrado Camps, [255]
- Oropeo, Hacienda de, [132]
- Patzcuaro, Lake, [88]
- Patzcuaro, Town, [91]
- Pompano, Eating a, [27]
- Popocatepetl, Volcano of, First Sight of, [53]
- Prado, The, Havana, [222]
- Progresso, Yucatan, [212]
- Provincial Despot, A, and His Residence, [107]
- Pulque, [70]
- Pulque, Origin of Legend, [73]
- Rancho Nuevo, [120]
- Ravens, [103]
- Ready for Revolution, [250]
- Restaurants in Mexico City, Remarks on, [57]
- Revolution, Ready for in Cuba, [250]
- Saltillo, Passing Near, [46]
- Sam, “Mr. Sam,” of Vera Cruz, [205]
- Saving the Children, Matanzas, [255]
- Saving the Children, Mariel, 265
- Santa Clara, [106]
- Saving the Children, Guanajay, [267]
- San Nicholas, College of, [180]
- San Luis Potosi, [48]
- San Pedro, Rancho, [126]
- Scorpions, [154]
- Southern Pacific Railway, [39]
- San Antonio, [41]
- Sugar Cane, Louisiana, [23-39]
- Sugar Cane, Cuba, [252]
- Tame Vultures of Vera Cruz, [206]
- Taylor, Incident Regarding Governor, [20]
- Tenochtitlan, [53]
- Theaters, Mexico, [199]
- Tio, [93]
- Titian, A Picture by, Legend of, [91]
- Tobacco Lands of Guanajay, Cuba, [262]
- Toluca, [181]
- Toluca, Life in, [183]
- Tortillas, Making, [132]
- Vendettas of Kentucky, [17]
- Vera Cruz to Cuba, [210]
- Vieux Carré, New Orleans, [26]
- Yucatan, [216]
- Yucatan, Strait of, [217]
- Yucataka, Senator, [208]
- Walled up Alive, [241]
- Water-fowl on Lakes, [88]
- Water to Cities and Towns, [108]
- Map, [284]