524 



Monthly Review of Literature, 



[MAY, 



tion of the city scarcely furnishes a tolerable 

 spot ; and ample compensation is made by 

 the beautiful representation of Durham, 

 York, Worcester, and Hereford. 



This very handsome set of engravings 

 corresponds with Mr. Britton's Cathedral 

 Antiquities, who is indeed the undertaker 

 of the publication. He was struck by the 

 beauty of the drawings, and ventured 

 2,000 on the engravings, in spite of the 

 gloomy forebodings that nobody now-a- 

 days patronizes " embellished works." We 

 should hope these forebodings will not be 

 'realized; and indeed we have little doubt 

 that the patronage of the town of Hull will 

 not be the only place in the kingdom to 

 excite Mr. Britton's "surprise and thanks." 



Journal of a Residence and Tour in the 

 Republic of Mexico, in the year 1 826, by 

 Captain G. F. Lyon, R.N. ; 1828 So 

 little is really known in this country of the 

 interior of Mexico, that we may be thank- 

 ful for the little intelligence that Captain 

 Lyon's limited opportunities permitted him 

 to give. His visit was one of business he 

 travelled as the agent or commissioner of 

 the Real del Monte and Bolanos Mining 

 Companies his time was not his own, and, 

 of course, the survey of the country and its 

 productions, or the character and condition 

 of society, were matters of secondary im- 

 portance though with Captain Lyon's well 

 known activity, such things were not likely 

 to escape altogether his passing but shrewd 

 observation. 



The narrative is strictly a personal one, 

 . and consists merely or mainly of the inci- 

 dents that occurred from day to day many 

 of which, concerning, as they do, eating, 

 drinking, and sleeping, are very little cal- 

 culated to awaken attention. These things 

 must be had ; and when an adventurer re- 

 turns alive, we conclude he has had them 

 to a certain extent, and for any deficiency 

 an ordinary reader is likely to care very lit- 

 tle. He landed in the district of Tampico, 

 and lost no time in proceeding to Veta 

 Grande, the ultimate point of his destination 

 making his way, partly in canoe?, up the 

 Punaco, but for the most part on mules, by 

 San Juan, San Luis Potosi, to Zacatecas, 

 in the neighbourhood of which were the 

 company's mines, and where for two months 

 he was fixed, superintending the operations 

 of the workmen. From this point he return- 

 ed by the way of Bolanos, where there were 

 more mines to survey through Guadalaxera 

 Mexico Real del Monte mines again 

 to Vera Cruz his tour and residence occu- 

 pying eight months. 



This tour lay thus through the northern 

 provinces through regions occupied for the 

 most part by Indians with little or no ac- 

 commodation for travellers, and the little 

 there was of the most filthy description, and 

 full of vermin of all sorts the scene, except 

 the high road from Vera Cruz to Mexico, 

 almost one continued wilderness. Captain 



Lyon piques himself, evidently, on not be- 

 ing very nice we remember some dainty 

 proofs in his intercourse with the Esqui- 

 maux and he offers it as an axiom to the 

 traveller, that " whatever feeds or covers 

 the people among whom he travels, will 

 unquestionably nourish and shelter himself; 

 and on this principle he will find no diffi- 

 culties in earthen floors, mud huts, tordillas 

 (something vastly inferior to oat-cake, we 

 believe), or ropes of beef." This, of course, 

 is said a little at random, and in Captain 

 Lyon's hap-hazard style making no allow- 

 ance for difference of temperament, and 

 forgetting that though new habits may be 

 generated, there is a chance, if they are of 

 the violent kind, of dying in the training. 

 Up the river Punaco, the monotony of his 

 tour was broken by the spectacle of nume- 

 rous and formidable looking alligators, and 

 the amusement of shooting and wounding 

 them, and on land, by occasionally encoun- 

 tering rattle-snakes, and being surprized, in 

 bivouacking on the plains, by showers and 

 storms, coming down, not in drops, or in 

 pitchforks, but in sheets and cataracts of 

 fluid with a narrow escape from drowning. 

 By going also a little out of his line of 

 march, he passed through Tampico, San 

 Juan, and San Luis Potosi, and shared the 

 festivities and hospitalities of those refined 

 and superior creole towns. In the morn- 

 ings, the ladies present themselves in an 

 easy dishabille without stays, simply in a 

 chemise, tied round the waist with a string, 

 and a cigar in their mouths ; and at Tam- 

 pico, at a ball of some splendour, the room 

 was lined with a troop of these charmers, in 

 full dress, but still stayless and gloveless, 

 and a cigar between their ruby lips. 



When settled for a time at the mines 

 near Veta Grande, he had opportunities of 

 riding about a few miles in different direc- 

 tions, and visited the college of our Lady 

 of Guadaloupe an institution founded ex- 

 pressly for the conversion of the Indians of 

 Texas, California, and other northern tribes. 

 About half the brothers are still constantly 

 absent on these pious errands. They are 

 represented as indefatigable, and enduring 

 great hardships, especially in the remoter 

 districts, where, however, communities of 

 some thousands are under their spiritual 

 guidance, and probably more. Of Chris- 

 tianity, however, according to Captain 

 Lyon's report, little more than the name is 

 taught all is adapted and made to square 

 with the old religion of the country the 

 habits, prejudices, and perhaps capacities of 

 the natives. At home, the padres, who 

 reside there by turns, undergo a life of per- 

 petual mortification and little rest con- 

 stant prayers and meagre diet, with a daily 

 self-flagellation of a full hour's continuance ; 

 but Captain Lyon was received by the supe- 

 riors with great attention passed an agree- 

 able evening, partook of a good supper, and 

 had a clean bed in a separate cell. Pro- 



