Anahuac

or,
Mexico and the Mexicans,
Ancient and Modern

by Edward Burnett Tylor

1861

TABLE OF CONTENTS.

INTRODUCTION.

ITINERARY.

CHAPTER I.

Cuba. Volantes. A Cuban Railway. Voyage. Passports. Isle of Pines. Mosquitos.Pirates. Runaway slaves. Baths of Santa Fé. Alligators. The Cura. MissionaryPriest. Florida Colonists. Blacks in the West Indies. Chinese and Africanslaves.

CHAPTER II.

Players and Political Adventurers. Voyage. Yucatan. Slave-trade in Natives. TheTen Tribes. Vera Cruz. Don Ignacio Comonfort. Mexican Politics. Casualties. TheCity of the Dead. Turkey-buzzards. Northers. The “temperateregion.” Cordova. The Chipi-chipi. The “cold region.” Mirage.Sand-pillars. The rainy season. Plundered passengers. Robber-priest. Aztecremains. Aloe-fields. Houses of mud-bricks. Huts of aloes. Mexican churches.Mexican roads. Making pulque.

CHAPTER III.

Palace-hotel of Yturbide. Site and building of Mexico. Changes in the Valley ofMexico. Dearth of Trees. Architecture. Drunkenness. Fights. Rattles.Judas’s Bones. Burning Judas. Churches in Holy Week. Streets. Barricades.People. Women. The cypress of Chapultepec. Old-fashioned coaches. The canal ofChalco. Canoe-travelling. “Reasonable people.” Taste for flowers.The “Floating Gardens.” Promenade. Flooded streets. Earthquakes.

CHAPTER IV.

Tacubaya. Humming-birds and butterflies. Aztec feather-work. Bullfight. Lazoingand colearing. English in Mexico. Hedge of organ-cactus. Pachuca. Cold in thehills. Rapid evaporation. Mountain-roads. Real del Monte. Guns and pistols.Regla. The father-confessor in Mexico. Morals of servitude. Cornish miners.Dram-drinking. Salt-trade. The Indian market. Indian Conservatism. Sardines.Account-keeping. The great Barranca. Tropical fruits. Prickly pears. Their use.The “Water-Throat.” Silver-works. Volcano of Jorullo. Cascade ofRegla. “Eyes of Water.” Fires. The Hill of Knives. Obsidianimplements. Obsidian mines. The Stone-age. The loadstone-mountain of Mexico.Unequal Civilization of the Aztecs. Silver and commerce of Mexico. Effect ofProtection-duties. Silver mines. The Aztec numerals.

CHAPTER V.

A Revolution. Siege and Capitulation of Puebla. Military Statistics.Highway-robbery. Reform in Mexico. The American war. Mexican army. Our Lady ofGuadalupe. Miracles. The rival Virgins. Sacred lottery-ticket. Literature inMexico. The clergy and their system of Education in Mexico. The Holy Office.Indian Notions of Christianity.

CHAPTER VI.

To Tezcuco. Indian Canoes. Sewer-canal. Water-snakes. Salt-lakes. A storm onthe lake. Glass-works. Casa Grande. Quarries. Stone Hammers. Use of Bronze instone-cutting in Mexico and Egypt. Prickly Pears. Temple-pyramids ofTeotihuacán. Sacrifice of Spaniards. Old Mexico. Market of Antiquities. Police.Bull-dogs. Accumulation of Alluvium. Tezcotzinco. Ancient baths and bridge.Salt and salt-pans. Fried flies’-eggs. Water-pipes. Irrigation.Agriculture in Mexico. History repeats itself.

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