636 



Bullock's Six Months' Residence in Mexico. 



Vf.KA cr.Lz. 



Entering our l)Oiit we steered for 

 the city, about liiilf a mile flislanl, ami 

 wliicli, from its red and while domes, 

 cupolas, terraces, convents, Iiospilals, 

 churches, &o., wilh the rei,Milarity of 

 its walls and butteries, had a splendid 

 appearance from fhe waUr; but this 

 ])ainted Go|i;o1ha is the hcail-()!ia!tcrs 

 of deatii, being the most unliealthy 

 spot on earlli. 



We walked out to see tiie town, and 

 deliver our letters, witli which I was 

 •well furnislicd; but the English traveller 

 who (rusts to letters of inlrodnction, will 

 find himself woefully disappointed; for 

 of thirty which I can ied out, not one pro- 

 cured me even an invitalion to dinner. 

 This, as future experience taught me, 

 is the universal feeling of (he Spaniards 

 towards the Englisli. Joeing Sunday 

 evening, we were recomnieiided to see 

 the public walk on the outside (he gate, 

 south of the ei(y. It is prettily fitted 

 wilh seals for the promenader.s, but tht; 

 company was not gay. Here, liowever, 

 we iiad an opportunity of sceirig the 

 iiepublican generals, St. Anna and 

 Yitloria ; they were on horseback, in 

 splendid military costume, and well 

 mounted, but the troops they were re- 

 viewing did not m;ike a very military 

 appearance, being principally recruits, 

 •ind most of them Indians, or of Indian 

 extraction. We returned to our hotel, 

 if such it deserved to be called, where 

 we could not even be acpommorlated 

 with beds. With some diflieully I pro- 

 cured a kind of bedstead, on the sack- 

 ing of which a sheet was spread, and 

 over that a small piece of baize: Ihis 

 constituicd the whole furniture of the 

 room, which had no window, but only 

 an opening that communicated with a 

 billiard room, whose noisy visitors were 

 alolie suflieipnt to prcven( repose. • On 

 preparing (o lie down, I discovered that 

 the solitary sheet was absolutely wet ; 

 yet upon making my complaint to the 

 hmdlord, he n^plied, that he knew it, 

 but that he had no other. I told him 

 that wrapping myself in my great coat, 

 and sitting in a chriir all night, wonhl 

 be preferable (o such a bed ; to which 

 he rejoined wilh the utmost sang froid, 

 that he thought it would, and left me 

 to pass a sleepless night, tormented 

 widi noise, heat, and mosquitos. 



VeraCruz contains about 7000 inhabi- 

 tants, as I was informed by every one of 

 whom I made the inquiry ; and they 

 were persons most likely (o possess col- 

 lect intcilijjcnce. Humboldt, who was 



there in 1802, states the hahitua! po- 

 pulation at 16,000; and the city ap- 

 pears to me as large as many places that 

 contain 20,000 people. 



One class of the occupants will ex- 

 cite soiTie surprize in those unacquainted 

 witii tro|>ieul regions, I mean the car- 

 rion vultmes ; they areas tame in the 

 streets as domestic fowls, and like the 

 dogs from IIk; mountains at Ijisbi;n, act 

 as the scavengers of Ihe place, very 

 s,:Ci;dily clearing away whatever tillii 

 may be left. Their senses of sight and 

 smell is very acute: whilst I was pre- 

 serving some fishes in an apartment on 

 the lop of the Posada, the surrounding 

 roofs were crowded with anxious ex- 

 pectants; and when the olFal was Ihrouii 

 out, it was, with much contention, 

 greedily eonsumetl. They are on good 

 terms with the dogs, and Ihe two ani- 

 mals may be frequently seen devouring 

 tlie s:ime carcasi-. 'J'lK.-y pass the night 

 on the roofs of the churches, where I 

 have sometimes observed several liun« 

 dreds, but never saw tlicni breeding. 

 jlN INN. 



Here we found nearly as good an 

 inn »s any on the road, and a descrip- 

 tion of it and our treatment, may serve 

 as specimens of the whole, no doubt la 

 the surprise of those who have believed 

 what some wrileis, not travellers, have 

 asserted respecting (he ample accom- 

 modations to be found in these parts. 

 The I'osado, is a large shed thatched 

 widi leaves or reeds, partly enclosed, 

 like a bird-cage, and freely admitting 

 the air; — so little barricadoed as to 

 allow whaievcr passes within to be seen 

 from without ; — and the roof projecting 

 very eonsidembly over the sides. Un- 

 der this projection, and in the open air, 

 several travellers had laid themselves 

 down for the night. Our baggage was 

 placed in the interior: and when we in- 

 quired where we were to lodge, we 

 were condncted to the same place, and 

 told, that unless wc had beds of our 

 own we must repose on the floor ; in- 

 deed nothing was furnished but shelter 

 Irom the rain, and Indian corn for the 

 cattle. For ourselves, we with diffi- 

 culty procured some planks on which 

 to place our mattresses, and aftef 

 making a scanty meal of what we liad 

 brought, for bad water and a little 

 broad were all the house afforded, we 

 prepared to go to rest, hoping that the 

 fatigue wc had. gone through would act 

 as a soporific. Several persons of botli 

 sexes, with some children, were in the 

 satne room with us, in a sort of gatlerj; 



tliat 



