Appleton's Guide to Mexico

by Alfred Ronald Conkling

 

 

APPLETONS'

 

GUIDE TO MEXICO,

 

INCLUDING A

 

CHAPTER ON GUATEMALA, AND A COMPLETE
ENGLISH-SPANISH VOCABULARY.

 

BY

ALFRED R. CONKLING, LL. B., Ph. B.,

MEMBER OF THE NEW YORK ACADEMY OF SCIENCES, AND FORMERLY UNITED STATES GEOLOGIST.

 

WITH A RAILWAY MAP AND ILLUSTRATIONS

 

NEW YORK:
D. APPLETON AND COMPANY,
1, 3, and 5 BOND STREET.

1884.

 

 

COPYRIGHT BY

D. APPLETON AND COMPANY,

1883.

 

 

 

 

 

 

PREFACE

 

---

 

Since the year 1880, a large amount of capital has been invested in Mexico by citizens of the United States. Within that period an unprecedented number of the English-speaking races have visited that country either as tourists, or as explorers with a view to an actual settlement and a permanent residence.

During a professional visit to the Mexican Republic, in the winter and spring of this year, the author experienced from day to day, and frequently from hour to hour, the want of a compendious guide-book. While many volumes of history and of general observation and travel relating to Mexico have, from time to time, been published, no book of this description is known to exist.

Believing that our sister Republic will in future, to a far greater extent than ever before, be the resort of the capitalist, the speculator, the artist, the archæologist, the valetudinarian, and the pleasure-seeker, as well as of the intelligent and enterprising man of business, the author has endeavored to render each and all an acceptable service by the preparation of this manual. It has been his constant aim to use the shortest words, and to adopt the most compact and abbreviated forms of expression consistent with perspicuity. In the spelling of both proper names and places he has, for the most part, followed the orthography of the best maps and of the standard works on Mexico, except where changes have been introduced by common usage. For instance, the name of President Santa Anna, although correctly spelled with a single letter "n," has so long been spelled with a double "n," that the change may be said to be sanctioned by universal usage.

The vocabulary of Spanish words, together with the collection of colloquial phrases, has been made as complete as the limited space devoted to it would permit. At present every new-comer, unless a Spaniard or a Spanish scholar, is obliged to purchase a dictionary immediately on his arrival in the country. It is believed that this want will be in a great measure supplied by this volume.

One half of this work is in the form of a compendium of general information for the use of tourists as well as of settlers. In the itinerary, all names of places are italicized for the convenience of the reader.

It is to be borne in mind that Mexico is at present in a transition state. The beard may be said to have grown during the shaving. It has accordingly been found necessary to revise the proof-sheets of Sections IV and V up to the moment of going to press.

The author desires to express his great obligation to General U. S. Grant; General Manuel Gonzalez, the President of Mexico; Señores Matias and Cayetano Romero, of the Mexican Legation at Washington; Don Ignacio Mariscal, ex-Secretary of Foreign Affairs of the Mexican Republic; Hon. P. H. Morgan, United States Minister at Mexico; Hon. D. H. Strother, Consul-General of the United States; Hon. W. P. Sutton and Hon. A. Willard, Consuls at Matamoros and Guaymas respectively; Mr. Simon Stevens; Thomas Nickerson, Esq., Rudolph Fink, Esq., and D. B. Robinson, Esq., of the Mexican Central Railway Company; and to Messrs. Spackman, Gardner, and Nevin, of the Mexican National Railway Company, for much valuable information and assistance in the preparation of these pages.

New York, November 1, 1883.

 

TABLE OF CONTENTS.

 

---

 

PART FIRST.
CHAPTER			PAGE
I.—	Traveling in Mexico		1
	Hints		1-2
	When to Travel		3-4
	How to Travel		4-5
	An Agricultural Trip		6
	A Mining Trip		6
	The Cost of Travel		6
	Railroads		7-12
	Steamships		12-13
	Diligences		13-14
	Horse-cars		14-15
	Horses and Mules		15
	Express		15-16
II.—	History		16-24
III.—	Geography		25-33
	Situation		25
	Boundaries		25
	Area		25
	Topography		25-30
	Mountains		25-28
	Rivers		29
	Lakes		29-30
	Islands		30
	Climate		30-31
	Political Divisions		32-33
IV.—	Literature		33
V.—	Ruins		34-49
	Mayapan		36
	Uxmal		36-38
	Palenque		38-40
	Mitla		41-43
	The Pyramids		43-47
	Cholula		43-44
	San Juan Teotihuacan		44-46
	Papantla		46-47
	Northern Mexico		47-49
VI.—	Hotels and Restaurants		49-52
VII.—	Passport		52
VIII.—	Custom-Houses		53
IX.—	Commerce		53-55
X.—	Army and Navy		56-57
XI.—	Duties		57
XII.—	Taxes		58
XIII.—	Finance		58-59
XIV.—	Public Debt		59-60
XV.—	Money—Coins		60-62
XVI.—	Mints		63
XVII.—	Post-Office and Letters		63-66
XVIII.—	Telegraphs		66-67
XIX.—	Census		67-68
XX.—	Population		68-69
XXI.—	Architecture		69-73
XXII.—	Painting		73-74
XXIII.—	Immigration		74-75
XXIV.—	Mines		76-82
XXV.—	Mineral Springs		82
XXVI.—	Geology		83-85
XXVII.—	Zoölogy		86-89
XXVIII.—	Botany		89-91
XXIX.—	Agriculture		91-100
XXX.—	Maps and Surveys		101-102
XXXI.—	Stock-Raising		102-103
XXXII.—	Weights and Measures		103-107
XXXIII.—	Labor and Wages		108-112
XXXIV.—	Wines and Liquors		112-115
XXXV.—	Cigars and Tobacco		115-116
XXXVI.—	Manufactures		116-119
XXXVII.—	Native Productions		119-121
XXXVIII.—	Jewelry		121-122
XXXIX.—	Theatres		122
XL.—	Music		122-124
XLI.—	Dances		124
XLII.—	Festivals		124-125
XLIIL.—	Bull-fights		125-126
XLIV.—	Cock-fights		126-127
XLV.—	Costumes		127-129
XLVL.—	Lotteries		129
XLVII.—	Stores		129-130
XLVIII.—	Pawnbroker-Shops		130-131
XLIX.—	The Church		131-134
L.—	Jurisprudence		134-137
LI.—	Education		137-139
LII.—	Newspapers		139-140
LIII.—	Miscellaneous		140-143
LIV.—	What Mexico needs		143-146
PART SECOND.
SECTION			PAGE
I.—	How to reach Mexico		147-159
	How to reach the Country		147
	Route I.—	New York to Vera Cruz by Steamer	147-152
		Vera Cruz	152-154
		Jalapa	154-155
	Route II.—	New York to New Orleans by Rail, thence by Steamer to Vera Cruz	156-158
		Matamoros, Tampico, Tuxpan	157
	Route III.—	New York to Laredo or El Paso, Texas, by Rail	158-159
II.—	The Mexican Railway Company from Vera Cruz to Mexico		160-174
	From Vera Cruz to Orizaba		160-163
	Orizaba		163-165
	From Orizaba to Esperanza		165-169
	From Esperanza to Puebla via Apizaco		169-170
	Puebla		171-173
	From Puebla to the City of Mexico		173-174
III.—	The City of Mexico and Environs		175-201
	Hotels, Restaurants, Theatres, Carriages, Banks, Societies, etc., etc.		175-176
	History of Tenochtitlan		176-179
	Places of Interest		182-194
	Excursions around the Capital		196-201
	San Juan Teotihuacan		196
	Pachuca		196-197
	Cuernavaca		199-200
IV.—	The Mexican National Railway		202-253
	Route I.—	From the City of Mexico to Manzanillo	202-236
		Mexico to Toluca	202-205
		Toluca	205-206
		Toluca to Maravatio	206-209
		Maravatio to Morelia	210-211
		Acambaro	210
		Morelia	211-215
		Morelia to Pátzcuaro and thence to Manzanillo	215-220
		Pátzcuaro via Ario to Jorullo	220-236
		Acapulco	236
	Route II.—	From the City of Mexico to Laredo and Corpus Christi	237-253
		Mexico to Celaya	237
		Celaya to San Luis Potosí	237
		San Luis Potosí	237-240
		San Luis Potosí to Saltillo	240-245
		Saltillo	245
		Saltillo to Monterey	246-247
		Monterey	248-249
		Monterey to Laredo	249-252
		New Laredo	252
		Laredo	252-253
		Laredo to Corpus Christi	253
V.—	The Mexican Central Railway		254-289
	Route I.—	From the City of Mexico to Zacatecas	254-280
		Mexico to Querétaro	254-260
		The Canal of Huehuetoca	255-258
		Querétaro	260-263
		Querétaro to Guanajuato	263-269
		Silao	264
		Guanajuato	265-269
		Guanajuato to Lagos	269-290
		Lagos to Guadalajara and San Blas	270-273
		Lagos to Zacatecas	273-276
		Aguascalientes	273
		La Quemada	274
		Zacatecas	276-278
		Durango	279
		Zacatecas to San Luis Potosĺ	280
	Route II.—	El Paso to Chihuahua	280-284
		Chihuahua	284-285
		Chihuahua to Jimenez	285-288
		List of Ranches	288
VI.—	The International and Interoceanic Railway		290
VII.—	The Mexican Southern Railroad		291-297
	Northern Division		291-293
	Southern Division		293-297
	Oaxaca and Mitla		295
VIII.—	The Morelos Railway		298-304
	Mexico to Cuautla		298-303
	Amecameca and Popocatepetl		299-303
	Cuautla to Acapulco		303-304
IX.—	The Tehuantepcc Railroad		302-310
X.—	The Sonora Railway		309-315
XI.—	The American and Mexican Pacific Railway		316-318
XII.—	The New York, Texas, and Mexican Railroad		319-322
XIII.—	The Mexican International Railroad		323
XIV.—	The Sinaloa and Durango Railroad		324-325
XV.—	Table of Distances		326
XVI.—	Guatemala		327-343
	Geography		327-335
	Miscellaneous		335-338
	Route I.—	Tonalá, Mexico, to San José de Guatemala	338
	Route II.—	San José to New Guatemala	339
		Guatemala	339-341
		Old Guatemala	342-343
Appendix			345-378
	Language		345-378
	Vocabulary		358-378

 

 

ILLUSTRATIONS.

 

---

 

PART FIRST.
	PAGE
Scene in Mexico	26
Mexican Table-land	28
Aztec Temple	44
Toltec Palace at Tula	48
The Cathedral of Mexico	70
Longitudinal View of Timbered Level	82
The Peak of Orizaba	84
The Axolotl	87
Cochineal Insects on Branch of Cactus	88
Indigo Plant (Añil)	90
Brazil-Wood, Leaves, Flower, and Fruit	91
The Vanilla Plant	92
India-Rubber Plant (Hule)	93
The Coffee Plant	96
Cocoanut Palm	98
Mexican Porters	109
Pulque Tlachiquero	113
PART SECOND.
A Tropical Jungle	150
Jalapa	154
A Mexican Cañon	159
The Pineapple Plant	162
Cut showing Zones of Vegetation	167
The Nopal	70
Popocatepetl	72
The Volcanoes of Popocatepetl and Iztaccihuatl	177
Plaza Mayor, Mexico	183
Quetzalcoatl	185
Feathered Serpent	185
Teoyaomiqui	186
The Noche-triste Tree	90
The Aqueduct and Fountain, Mexico	92
Pyramids of San Juan Teotihuacan	195
Silver-Mill, Pachuca	198
Indian Hut in the Tierra Caliente	201
City of Colima	219
Manzanillo Bay	221
A Pack-Train	223
Jorullo	232
Interior of a Modern Mexican House	239
Yucca-Tree	244
Scene on the Northern Plateau	247
Varieties of Cactus	251
The Cut of Nochistongo	257
Plaza de Armas, Guadalajara	271
Making Tequila	273
Ruins of Quemada	275
Church and Plaza, El Paso	281
Janos, Chihuahua	283
Casas Grandes, Chihuahua	284
Aqueduct and Church of Santa Rita, Chihuahua	286
La Punta de Sauz Cienega	287
Chiricahui Mountains	289
Scene in Northern Mexico	290
Victoria and Tula Pass	292
Scene in Mexico	294
Gathering Cochineal, Mexico	297
Acapulco	302
Tree-Fern	304
A Scene on the Isthmus of Tehuantepec	308
Fronteras, Sonora	310
Magdalena	311
Arispe	312
Defile in the Guadalupe Pass, Sierra Madre	314
The Pitahaya	317
A Mexican Hacienda	321
Scene on the Sonora River	325
Map of Guatemala	328
Native of Mixco	329
Volcan de Agua, Old Guatemala	331
The Plaza, Quezaltenango	332
General View of the City of Quezaltenango	334
The National Institute, Guatemala	336
The Government Building, Quezaltenango	337
The National Theatre, Guatemala	340
The Cathedral, Guatemala	341
The Plaza, Old Guatemala	342
The Penitentiary, Quezaltenango	343