BuHock^s Six Months' Residence in Mexico, 



639 



rich and mosain appearance, quile diffe- 

 rent from any tiling of the kind inEurope. 

 Tlie walls of thuir peat staircases are 

 frequently covered in the same manner, 

 U!)d mixed with a profusion of gilding, 

 which, in contrast with the hlne and 

 white porcelain, has a really splendid 

 effect. I am inclined to think that this 

 mode of ornament was borrowed from 

 the Moorish palaces and mosques ex- 

 isting in Spain at the time of the dis- 

 covery of Mexico, and introduced into 

 this city and Piiehia <le los Angeles, 

 when the wealth of the mines of the New 

 World was such as to render it imprac- 

 ticable for the proprietors to spend their 

 immense revenues in household expen- 

 ses, equipages, or servants. 



The city, seen from an elevation, 

 presents a far more beautiful appearance 

 than those of Europe, where the red- 

 tiled and deformed roofs, and shapeless 

 stacks of chimnies, are the principal 

 features in the prospect. Indeed, no 

 place I ever saw affords so many in- 

 teresting points for a panoramic view, 

 indcpondontly of its own intrinsic 

 beauty, its interesting architecture, its 

 houses with their light balconies, 

 covered [parterres of shrubs and llowcrs, 

 ■ — its situation in the grand valley of 

 Mexico, wiili its sea-like lakes, sur- 

 rounded by snow-capped volcanic moun- 

 tains, the highest in New Spain. Cut 

 the furniture and internal decorations of 

 •piost of the houses ill accord with their 

 external appearrmccs. The closing of 

 the mines, the expulsion of the rich 

 Spanish families, and sixteen years of 

 rpvolnlionary warfare, with all the con- 

 <;omitant miseries, have wrought a 

 •nelancholy alteration in the fortunes of 

 indiviiliials, and in the genera! state of 

 the country: and in tliis the capital 

 Lears no inconsiderable siiare. 



The existing state of this city ex- 

 hibits only a shadow of the grandeur it 

 had once atlained. The period of its 

 greatest splendour, wealth, and luxury, 

 may be placed within one century from 

 its concpicst by (Jortcz. The j)rescnt 

 inlcrnal decorations but ill accord witb 

 t!io magnilicent houses and palaces, on 

 which thousands have been lavished, 

 and prove at once the poverly of (he 

 present Mexicans and the wealth of 

 llieir ancestors. 'I'lie massive silver 

 tables, Ktaircases, and chandeliers, &c. 

 ^c. have all disappeared. The pro- 

 fusion of jewels and the extravagant 

 equijianes are no longer to be seen in 

 the ftrccts, and the ensemhle even of 

 people of the highest rank of the present 



MoNMiLY Mag. No. o\)d. 



day reminds ns in nothing of the au- 

 thenticated description of the inhabi- 

 tants of the same place by writers two 

 centuries ago. 



The places of divine worship, and 

 other religious establishments, in this 

 city, yielcl to none in point of number, 

 extent, or the richness of their endow- 

 ments. The cathedral of Mexico is far 

 famed for its splendor and riches, and de- 

 serves its high reputation. Divine 

 service is celebrated here with great 

 magnificence. M^'ss is regularly said 

 every half hour from daylight till one 

 o'clock, exclusive of the high mass, 

 and other occasional masses. In no 

 place are religions ceremonies observed 

 with greater pomp or splendour. The 

 procession which I saw iVom this cathe- 

 dral far exceeded, in order and re- 

 gularity, in the grandeur of the vest- 

 ments, in the costliness and value of 

 the sacred ornaments, and in gold and 

 silver, any thing I ever witnessed. 

 The processions of Rome, or any other 

 city of Eurojje, suffer much in the 

 comparison. 



We visited the Hospital of Jesns in 

 company witli the Coimt Luche.se, 

 uncle to the Duke de Montlconc, the 

 descendant antl heir of the great 

 Ferdinand Cortcz, who founded and 

 endowed this institution; and in the 

 chapel of which, by his own express 

 desire, are deposited his bones, in one 

 of the rooms were several portraits of 

 the family, and one likeness of the 

 great captain himself; and the identical 

 embroidered standard under which he 

 wrested this immense empire from the 

 hands of the unfortunate Montezuma. 



A strong iron-hound chest was pro- 

 duced, and when unlocked, we Mere 

 allowed to touch the bones of him who 

 conquered and adiled New Spain to the 

 territories of Charles V. I attentively 

 examined the cranium of this extraor- 

 dinary person, but saw nothing to dis- 

 tinguish it— I should judge from it that 

 his person was small. Some of the 

 teeth had been lost before death. 



THE INDIANS. 



The dresses of the poorer classes and 

 Indians vary in ihe dilftrent pro\inces. 

 The mixed descendants of the SjianiuriU, 

 in the capital, and inTolluca, and other 

 cities, have little njore than a blanket, 

 worn much in the fashion of the Roman 

 togaj whilst the garb of the Indian 

 men consists of a straw hat, clo.se 

 jacket with short sleeves, of different 

 dark-coloured coarse woollen or leather, 

 and a short jiair of brccchcSj open at 

 •1 N the 



