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MEXICO. 



MEXICO. 



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leather, and saddlery wore also considerable. The manufacturers 

 owed their prosperity to the high price at which, under a system of 

 monopoly, European goods were sold in that country. After the 

 harbours were thrown open to a free-trade (in 1820) tiey began to 

 decline. The manufactures of cotton and wool are now of little im- 

 portance. Cigars, hats, soap, leather, saddlery, glass, earthenware, and 

 other articles of ordinary use are made in large quantities, but the 

 factories are illconducted. 



The commercial intercourse between the coast and the table-Iandii 

 is difficult on account of the steep ascent to the table-lands from the 

 coast. On the east there are only two carriage-roads, as has been 

 already observed, which lead to the tabWand ; and on the western 

 ooast the communicatiou between Acapulco and Mexico, and between 

 Sau Bias and Uuadalajara, ia carried on by roads which are only 

 passable to mules and horses. No such obstacle exists between the 

 harbours of Mazatlan and Ouaymas on the western coast, and the 

 country farther back, but no road leads from them over the Sierra 

 Madre, by which the goods landed at these places could be carried to 

 Duraogo or the towns of the northern plain. Even in those parts 

 where there ia no obstacle to the use of carriages, the goods are 

 commonly carried by mules, ou account of the great number of tbeso 

 animals, and the low price at which they are bought. 



The maritime commerce is considerable. In the beginning of the 

 present century the ex[>ort8, according to Humboldt, amounted to 

 twenty-two millions of Spanish dollars, and the imports to fifteen 

 miUiona of dollars. After the declaration of independeoce they greatly 

 declined, and hare never since nearly equalled that amount. At the 

 present time however they are probably not much uud^r tweuty 

 millions of dollars. The exports consist chiefly of gold and silver, 

 which amount in value to nearly aeveneighths of the whole, of 

 cochineal, sugar, indigo, salt meat, hides, lanapariUa, vanilla, jalap, 

 soap, campeachy wood, fustic, Tabascan pepper! and ooffea, Little, if 

 any, commercial interoourso exists between Central America and 

 Mexico, but a considerable number of mules and horses, and ■oma 

 wool, are exported to the United States of North America. 



The imports amount in value to somewhat over 15,000,000 dollars. 

 The value of goods sent from the United Kingdom to Mexico in 1863 

 was 791,940/., being more than double that of 1852 (366,020/.). The 

 imports from Great Britain consist principally of cotton, linen, and 

 woollen goods, hardware and cutlery, machinery, to. From British 

 aolooiaa Mexico receives large quantities of quicksilver, cinnamon, 

 cocoa, and raw silks. The imports next in amount to thoee of Great 

 Britain are those from Fianoe, Germany, and the United States. 

 The commerce ia mostly carried on in foreign vessels. The vessels of 

 the United States of America almost exclusively visit the smaller 

 porta ; the larger British vessels are chiefly confined to the harbours 

 of Vera Cruz, Tampioo, and Tamaulipas; next in number are the 

 ▼easels of France, bom Bordeaux and H&vre, and lastly those of the 

 free German towns of Hamburg and Bremen. 



JnhalnlanU, — The population of Mexico is composed of Creoles 

 or descendants of Europeans, of Indians or natives, and of those of 

 mixed blood. The number of Europeans, who are called Gachupines, 

 and formerly amounted to 80,000 individuals, has been much reduced 

 b^ thi expulsion of the natives of Spain; and though many indi- 

 viduals of other nations have settled in these states during the last 

 thirty years, it is not likely that the whole number of Europeans now 

 amounts to more than 30,000. Probably nearly half of the population 

 still consists of the descendants of those nations which inhabited the 

 country at the time of the Spaniih invasion. 



The natives who have submitted to the dominion of foreigners have 

 attained different degrees of civilisation. Those who inhabit the 

 country between 18' and 23° N. lat. were, on the arrival of the 

 Spaniards, subjects to the kings of Tenocbtitlan and Michoacan, or 

 united in the republics of Tlaxcallan (Tlascala), Huexocliiogo, and 

 ChoUollan, and had then attained a oonsiderable degree of civilisation, 

 as is proved by the ruins of their religious buildings, or ' teocallis,' 

 their causeways and dykes, their hieroglyphics, paintings, and sculp- 

 tures; and though the objects of their agrictilture were only few in 

 number, their cultivation was extensive, and carried on with consider- 

 able care. [AzTtxs.] Their present condition is not worse than that 

 of the lower classes who cultivate the ground in most parts of the 

 European continent, but they appear to have fewer wants, and accord- 

 ingly indulge more in indolence. Among them are some very rich 

 families, but they are not distinguished by their mode of life or their 

 dwellings Irom the other members of their tribe. In most places they 

 live mixed with the whites and Metis ; in others they occupy large 

 tracts, to the exclusion of all foreigncn. The countries north of 

 24" N. lat were inhabited at the time of the conquest by tribes 

 resembling those of the United States of North America. Thmr were 

 few in number, had no fixed dwellings, and lived mostly on the pro- 

 duce of the chase ; and they speedily retired from the plains, which 

 they had until then occupied, to the mountain traot called the Bolson 

 de Mapimi, where they atill continue their savage life. But in the 

 hilly tract north of the Bio Mayo the natives resisted the invasion of 

 the Spaniards, and were only subjected by the Jesuit missionaries. 

 Tlta padres accustomed them to a civilised life, and taught them the 

 principal mechanical arts. Though these Indians inhabit the same 

 country with the numerous white families which have qtread among 



tliom, they live in 6cpar.ite places, and no closo intercourse exi^t-; 

 between them, except for the purposes of trade. 



The mixed race is mostly composed of the descendants of Europeans 

 and the aboriginal tribes : these are called Metis, or Mestizos, and con- 

 stitute more than one-fourth of the population. The descendants of 

 Africans and Indians, and of Africaus and Europeans, are much fewer. 

 The former are called Zambos, and the latter Mulattos. In the 

 neighbourhood of Acapulco there are a few Chinese and Malays, who 

 have emigrated from Asia. There are very few negroes in this 

 country. 



Political Divitiom and Towns. — Mexico is divided into the following 

 provinces or departments — the former states of the federal ropublio : — 



1. Chiapa, called also Las Chiapas, comprehends the whole of the 

 westeiTi declivity of the table-land of Guatemala, as far as it belongs 

 to Mexico, and a portion of the plain of Tabasco, The soil is iu 

 general fertile, and the climate favourable to the growth of tropical 

 productions ; but almost the only article of commerce is logwood, 

 which is floated down the rivers Usumasinta and Tabasco to Villa 

 Hermoaa. Near the banks of the Rio Chacamas, a tributary of the 

 Usumasinta, are the extensive ruins of Paleuque, iu a country which 

 at present is a desert overgrown with trees. Ciiulad de leu Caaas, 

 formerly Ciudad Ileal, the capital of Chiapa, stands near the centre of 

 the province, in a very fertile country, and has about 4000 inhabitants. 

 It has a college; and a monument was erected here in 1826 to Las 

 Casas, the protector of the Indians, who was bishop of this province, 

 and died iu 1566. Some other toivns are still more considerable — as 

 Chamula, with 6000 inhabitants; iSaii Bartolomeo de laa Llanos, with 

 750U inhabitants; C'ommitan, with 6000 inhabitants; and TiixHa, with 

 4500 inhabitants. 



2. Yucatan comprehends the peninsula of that name as far south as 

 18" N. lat It exports much campeachy-wood and fustic, which grow 

 mostly on the eastern coast, and ou the western, south of 20° 30' 

 N. lat, and also a oonsiderable quantity of bees-wax. The rivers 

 Champoton and Pacaitun are navigable, for small craft, for many miles 

 inland. The capital is Merida, population 28,000, situated on an arid 

 plain about 25 miles from the sea. It carries on a considerable com- 

 merce by means of the harbour of Sizill, which is properly only a 

 roadstead formed by a saud-bank called Jiajo Sizitl, 12 miles long. 

 Farther east is VaUadolid, population 8000, in a district in which 

 much cotton is grown. On the eastern coast is Salamanca de Bacalar, 

 population 2000, whence much mahogany and fustic are shipped to 

 Belize. Ou the western coast is CAUfEACUY, with a number of populous 

 villages inhabited by Indians. 



3. Tabasco extends over the greater part of the low plain, from the 

 lake of Terminos on the east, to the Kio de Huasacualco on the west 

 It is traversed by the Rio de Tabasco. It exports cocoa, cotfee. 

 Tabasco pepper, indigo, and vanilla. The capital is Villa Uennota, 

 also calleid San Juan Bautiata, population 8000, on the river Tal>a8co, 

 about 50 miles from the sea, to which place vessels of moderate size 

 may aseend the river. 



4. Oaxaca extends over the whole of the table-land of Mixtecapan, 

 and is rich ia agricultural products : the industrious inhabitants rear 

 the cochineal-insect and the silkworm, and apply themselves to the 

 cultivation of indigo. It has some mines of gold and silver. Several 

 antiquities occur on the table-land, among which are the ruins of the 

 palace at Mitla, which differ from the ruins of the edifices erected by 

 the Aztecs, and approach iu stylo nearer to those of Greece. The 

 capital, Oaxaea, population 40,000, is built in a depression of the 

 table-land, 4800 feet above the sea-leveL It has fine houses, squares, 

 and aqueducts, and contains some manufactures of sugar, chocolate, 

 and silk. Tekuantepec, population 7000, is situated about 1 miles 

 from the sea, on a plaiu on which indigo and cocoa are grown ; and 

 salt is collected in the laguaes which skirt the sea. It carries on some 

 commerce by the harbour called Veutosa, or Tehuautepec RuaJ. 



5. Vera Cruz comprehends the whole coast of the Gulf of Mexico, 

 from the river Huasacualco on the south-east, to that of Panuco on the 

 north-west, and, in some parts, extends over the mountains which 

 border the table-lands on that side. Accordingly it exhibits a groat 

 variety in climate and vegetation : its most elevated parts are covered 

 with pine forests. Within its boundary-line are situated the Peak of 

 Orizava, the Cofire de Pei-ote, and the small volcano of Tuxtla. Its 

 commercial products are sugai', coffee, jalap, saruapariUa, and vanilla. 

 Tobacco is extensively grown. In the nortiiei'U districts of this state, 

 in a forest near the village of Papantla, Is a pyramid built of hewn 

 blocks of porphyry, which are worked with great care and skill. The 

 capital is Xalapa (or Jalapa), built on a level spot, situated ou the 

 steep ascent, 4335 feet above the sea, in a very beautiful countiy : 

 population, 13,000. To this place the merchants of Vera Cruz retire 

 when the vomito prieto is raging along the coast. Veua Cruz, the 

 chief commercial town of Mexico, is noticed in a sepai'ate article. The 

 roadstead is formed by several shoals, ou the largest of which, called 

 La Gallega, ia built the fortress of San Juan de Ulloa. Alvarado, 

 about 3 miles from the mouth of the Rio Alvarado, is a small town, 

 which however carries on some commerce, having a good wide port. 

 At the most northern extremity of the proviuca is the town of 

 Tampico, or rather Pueblo Viojo de Tampico, popuktiou 4000, built 

 ou the border of a large shallow lake, the Laguna de Tamiagua, which 

 oommiiuioatee with the Rio Paauou near its mouth. It carries on • 



