﻿718 



MEXICO. 



MEXICO. 



79i 



are San Ju.in de I!io, with 10,000 iuhaliitants, and Villa de los Cinco 

 SeBore.s, on the Rio Nasas, along the banks of which cotton is grown. 



17. Cinaloa comprehends the low tract extending along the Pacific 

 from 23° to 27° N. lat. The soil is sandy but yields good crops of 

 maize and wheat where it admits of irrigation. There are several 

 important mines of gold, silver, and copper. Villa del Puerte, on the 

 left bank of the Rio del Fuerte, population 8000, is the capital. Roeario, 

 near the southern border of Cinaloa, population 6000, is the centre of 

 a mining district, and has some commerce by means of the harbour of 

 Mazatlan, 60 miles distant; at the entrance of which is the town of 

 Catald, with a population of 5000. Culiacan, population 10,000, on 

 the left bank of the river of the same name, just above the confluence 

 of the Rio Mayo, and Cinaloa at the head of the Rio Cinaloa, popula- 

 tion 9000, are the only other towns of any importance. 



18. Sonora comprehends the hilly country north of Cinaloa : these 

 two divisions formed the federal state of Occidente. There is a good 

 deal of fertile soil, but agriculture is in a very backward state. The 

 mountains have little timber, being mostly covered with stunted trees 

 .-ind bushes. Mines of gold and silver are worked in several places 

 The north-western parts are said to be rich in gold and other metals. 

 The principal towns are Lot A Idmot, on the south, population 6000, a 

 well-built place, having, as the centre of a silver mining district, a 

 considerable trade ; Santa Cruz, near the mouth of the Rio Mayo, 

 population 10,000, the chief town of the Mayo Indians ; Guai/mat, 

 population 3000, the best port of Mexico, lies on the Pacific, and has 

 a considerable trade ; Pitic, on the Rio Pitic, population 8000, cirries 

 on a good trade ; A rispe, population 3000, is the most northern town 

 uf any importance, and an importiint military station : the hilly 

 countiT which lies to the west of Arispo, called Pimeria Alta, contains 

 Toloable gold- and copper-mines. 



19. Cbihudhua comprehends that portion of the northern plain 

 which lies between the northern pert of the Sierra Madre and the 

 middle course of the Rio del Norte, together with the mountain 

 i-cgion of the Bolson do Mapimi, and a tract of country south of it. 

 The soil is in general very dry, and unfit for agricultural purposes ; 

 cultivation is limited to the river bottoms and a narrow strip of 

 country along the dedivity of the Sierra Madre ; but the province has 

 many herds of cattle, hordes, and sheep. The mines are numerous- 

 Near the base of the Sierra tiadre, and not far from the Sonora 

 boundary-line, are ruins of great extent, called C'a»is Grondes, con- 

 riderrd to be one of the stations of the Aztecs in their emigrations. 

 The capita], Chihudhua, population 1 2,000, is a well-built town, with 

 regular streets and many large houses. Ita cathedral is an extensive 

 >iuilding ; and the town is well watered by means of an aqueduct. 

 •San Bartolomeo, situated towai-ds the boundary of Durango, popula- 

 tion 20,000. is badly built, and the streets are narrow, but it carries on 

 a considerable commerce with the agricultural produce of the fertile 

 district in which it is situated. Not far from it to the west is Kl 

 Parral, which contained 50,000 inhabitants when the mines were 

 productive, but now only 7000. M Pato del Norte, at the north- 

 eastern angle of Mexico, has about 4000 inhabitants. 



20. Coahuila, or Cohahuila, extends over the northeastern portion 

 of the northern plain, over that which lies between the Bolson de 

 Mapimi on the west, and the lower course of the Rio del Norte on 

 the east. The most sterile portion of the northern plain is included 

 in this province, and lies along the boundary of Zacatecas. Farther 

 north, between 27* and 29° N. lat, are several watercourses with 

 fertile bottoms, and considerable tracts of cultivable ground. Cattle, 

 and particuhrly mules and horses, constitute the commercial wealth 

 of this province. The capital Saltillo, population 12,000, being on 

 the only road by which the steep declivity with which the table-lands 

 of Mexico terminate towards the east can be passed by heavily laden 

 carriages, carries on considerable commerce. In this town a fair is 

 held, which is much frequented by merchants from the adjacent pro- 

 vinces. Monteluvez, or Cohahuila, farther north, population 3000 ; 

 Santa Rota, N.W. of Montelovez, population 4000 ; and El Pretidio 

 del Rio Grande, population 2500, at the head of the boat navigation of 

 the Rio del Norte ; and ifonclova, farther down, are places with some 

 trade. 



21. Nuevo Leon lies between Cohahuila and Taroaulipas. That 

 part of it which lies south of the Rio del Tigre is undulating, but 

 north of the river are mountains probably more than 10,000 feet 

 above the itea, and in which some rich mines are found near Pesqueria 

 and Salinas. The lower parts Of the country are very fertile, but only 

 cultivated in isolated places. Though the climate is hot, it is healthy. 

 Monterey, the capital, contains 15,000 inhabitants, and its commerce 

 i< considerable on account of the rich mines in the vicinity. Linaret 

 has 4000 inhabitants, and the neighbourhood abounds in cattle. 



22. Tamaulipas extends along the Oulf of Mexico from the mouth 

 of the river Panuco to that of the Rio del Norte. It is a low un- 

 healthy country, in which only a few hills occur. Though very 

 fertile, exce[)t along the sandy sea-shore, it is badly cultivated and 

 thinly inhabited. Its commercial wealth consists in its forests, in 

 which fustic and logwood are cut to a great extent The capital is 

 Pm^lo Ntuvo de Tamanlipat, situated at the southern extremity of 

 the province, on the left bank of the Panuco, about six miles from 

 its mouth. The harbour is good and safe, and the bar at its entrance 

 ha* generally 12 feet of water, but the navigable channel is narrow. 



It? commerce is consiilerable, as most of the European goods which 

 are consumed ou the northern plain are lauded here. Sotto la Marina 

 ia a small harbour, not much frequented, near the mouth of a little 

 river, the Rio de Santandero, on the banks of which is the small 

 town of Santandero, formerly the capital. Matamoros, on the Rio 

 del Norte, about 60 miles from its mouth, population 3000 ; vessels 

 not drawing more than 8 or 9 feet of water may ascend the river to this 

 place. 



23. Lower California. [California.] 



History, Jcc. — Though Columbus in his last voyage approached the 

 peniuaida of Yuiiatan, he did not come in sight of it. Thirteen years 

 later (1517) the peninsula was discovered by Francisco Hernandez 

 Cordova, who sailed along the coast fi-om Cape Catoche to Campeachy 

 Bay. The following year, Juan de Grijalva continued the discoveries 

 along the same coast northward to the mouth of the Rio Panuco ; he 

 visited the islands of Sacrificios and San Juan de Ulua, opposite the 

 present town of Vera Cruz, and gave them the names which they still 

 preserve. His account of the wealth of the country excited the 

 desire of conquest. In 1519 Heman Cortes landed at the place where 

 Vera Cruz now stands, but the town which he fouuded and called 

 Villarica was some miles farther to the north, near a small harbour 

 named Cbibauitzla. With his little army he soon ascended the table- 

 land, numerous inhabitants of which he found united under a powerful 

 sovereign, the King of the Aztecs, Montezuma, or Moctezuuia. Within 

 the limits of this empire there were some small republics, of which 

 that of TIascala united with Cortes. Cholula was also a republic, and 

 the name of a third is preserved, that of Huajocingo; all three were 

 situated within the territories of the present state of Piiebla. The 

 empire of the Aztecs did not extend over all the table-lands ; the 

 table-land of Michoacan constituted a sep.irate and independent king- 

 dom. The very remarkable architectural and other antiquities of this 

 period of Mexican history are noticed under America, vol i., cols. 

 307-9, and Aztecs. 



After two years of continuous and laborious warfare, Cortes suc- 

 ceeded in overturning the empire of the Aztecs, and the smaller states 

 were subjected to the Spaniards almost without a struggle ; auil from 

 that time until 1820 Mexico remained a S|)anish colony. As the 

 number of the conquistadores, or companions of Cortes, was very 

 small, in comparison with the native population, they were anxious 

 to bring over more of their countrymen. A considerable number of 

 Spaniards accordingly annually emigrated to Mexico, and there acquired 

 great wealth, as officers of government, merchants, and adventurers 

 in mining. Their descendants the Creoles settled in Mexico, and their 

 numbera were continually increasing ; but the Spanish government 

 forming an incorrect idea of their condition among the natives, thought 

 that the government of the colony could only be intrusted to persons 

 who considered Spain as their native country ; it therefore excluded 

 the Creoles from all offices of government, and even from commissions 

 in the army. Such exclusion excited in them a considerable degree 

 of ill-will against Spain and the Spaniards, which would probably 

 have manifested itself in resistance and rebellion, if they had not 

 feared that the native population, with the illegitimate descendants 

 of the Spaniards and native women, a numerous race called Metis, or 

 Mestizos, would take advantage of such a circumatauce to effect their 

 own destruction. The opposite interests of these different races served 

 to maintain a state of interUiil quiut in Mexico down to the com- 

 mencement of the present century, notwithstanding the United States 

 of North America had obtainod their independence, and the Mexicans 

 were well acquainted with the advantages which their neighbours 

 had obtained. It is even possible that the political condition of 

 Mexico would not have undergone any change for a long time, but 

 for the events in Europe and in Spain in 1808. By the intrigues of 

 Bonaparte the royal family were compelled to abdicate the throne of 

 Spain, and he conferred the whole Spanish monarchy on his brother 

 Joseph, then king of Naples. The Spaniards in Mexico and the 

 Creoles were unanimous in declaring their resistance to the govern- 

 ment established by the French. The viceroy could uo longer receive 

 ordera from Spain, and it was nece.?sary to organi.so a government 

 which should act independently under a certaiu sanction, and with 

 authority. But as to this point they disagreed The Creoles wished 

 to establish a national representation; the .Spaniards opposed and 

 prevented the measure. The Creoles submitted : but the public mind 

 had been agitated by the discussions which had taken place, and soon 

 afterwards, in 1810, the natives and the Mestizos, hcailed by Don 

 Miguel Hidalgo y Castilla, the cura or parish jirieat of Dolores, rose 

 against the government The Creoles sided with the Spanish govern- 

 ment. Hidalgo, who had soon an immense force with him, took 

 Guanaxuato by storm, and occupied Valladolid, whence he advanced 

 over the table-land of Toluca to that of Tenocbtitlan ; but some time 

 after he was defeated, taken prisoner, and shot. In the meantime 

 the whole country had risen in insurrection, and many leaders began 

 to act separately. The most remarkable among them was Don Jose 

 Maria Morelos, cura of Nucupetaro, who maintaim'd the southern 

 provinces in rebellion against the governor, and formed in 1811 a 

 'junta,' or central government. Morelos succeeded, amid varying 

 fortunes, in keeping together an army for some yeais. The junta, 

 increased by new members, assumed the title of the National Assembly 

 and declared the independence of Mexico, on the 13th of November, 



