The Sun.
London, England, 1858-03-02 00:00:00

LITERATURE.

Mitla ; a Narrative of Ir.cidents on a Journey in
ille;-cieo, Guatemala, and Salvador. By G. F.
Von Tempsky. Longman.

Many entertaining works of travel have already
been published respecting the troubled States of
Central America. Their gorgeous tropical scenery,
the very lawlessn6es of the marauders that infest
them, their rapid decadence and insignificant posi-
tion beside the bustling energy of the United States
and the prosperous activity of the Canadian domi-
nions, combine to tinge them with an air of
romance ; while the nature of the adventures met
with by the traveller, and the comparative novelly
of the incidents and scenery, generally render works
of this kind agreeable reading. The present is no
exception. It is written by a German, and he has
acquitted himself of his laborious task most honour-
ably. Ho has had the advantage of an fl nglish edi-
tor in Mr.J. S. Bel!, the author of a "Journal of a
Residence inCircassia but it is probable that little
supervision was needed. The usual tales of bandits
and murderers abound in his pages an 1 those who
seek the marvellous ol terrible will not be disap-
pointed. For instance, on quitting Mexico for
Durango, a party of thirty Mexicans, armed and
mounted, proposed to him and his friend that they
should join thorn. From various reasons they
declined, and what was their horror, on pursuing
their journey a day or two lwer, to come upon the
corpses of the whole party on the high roa,l. They
had been surprisf'd and murdered by a band of
the Indians who infest this locality, and whom the
government, such as it is, is totally unable to sub-
due. The following extract gives a picture of a
ball at Durango, in honour of the anniversary of
Independence—
ti,Jxicans, in general, are abstemious ; but, on par-
ticular occasions, they will look a little longer into the
glass than is compatible with gravity of demeanour
afterwards, which is the more difficult for them to pre.
serve, as they are unaccustomed to resist the influence
of drink. Such was the case here. Amongst the gal.
lints most conspicuous in elegance of manner was one
officersi
of the of the Zacateccas band of heroes, n blaz cg
uniform. lie was the admired of many a fair one, to
whom hie noble bearing centradieted clearlythe calumnies
He
and
d surveyedseem seemed
d
of doubt as to the courage of him and his comrades.
accordance rtdoaanncoe t
hwevirta,hl
oiut.r,
applied occasion-
He seemed to be anxious to confirm their favourable
engaged was
reaio
ni in
someto
who,h aveat selectedstimulantsso tiet
distance
nbiadnfdr.
onnigH sidled up to my
aatllylast
tohpeinbioanll-broy:rnomfreomactonine
friend,
conversation with some accoaintainncee. The
probably caused by this choice of a victim were twofold ;
nay friend wa- a little man, besides biting a foreigner •
and seemingly alone amongst a crowd
enthusiastic
the story short, in favour of any
y hea
European.cst
do
To make derogatory never - very
aet corny, reflec
tions on foreigners in general, andbefore
him in particular. The scene became interesting and
hopeful. I came up in time to hear him assert, with
ee :Ts,
r French,in d d
loud emphasis, that by his bands had died Englishmen.
Germans,
y friend sidled
citn ei,e u
eriiecttlsi t
; and
him,nd o the ln
o whispered
some-
thing in hie ear, and gave him
peepa
a pistol, in so inner breast pocket of his coat. The
talisman acted with wondrous suddenness. A slight
paleness replaced, for a moment, his flushed colour ;
but immediately he was himself again, he cast a look of
unutterable fierceness on the smiling pair of us, and—
retreated.

At :hat rnome:,t, a sadden cry iu the street, a ;et:a
atvi .nsia a 'unault, near the door, were bard. For a
moment, everybody seemed paralysed ; the next, some
rushed through the doorway, some through the win-
dows, to see what was going on in the street. A minute
after, the bleeding body at a young man was carried
in, under the wail of women, and laid oa a sofa. The
cause and incidents of this catastrophe were the fol-
lowing young Man bad excited the jealousy
of another, by dancing too often with his sweethear
i!..censed lover eggs t.vo inPrltlx
his inLerent, a.t."l the tu, et i;VJ ik.CLU Lue blreCL•
unconscious rival is called out to the street, under some
pretext or another, As he passes the doorway be

receives a thrust from the blade of a sword sans, *
pistol is snapped at him, and a stone, dashed in hie
teeth, bears him to the ground. He had time to recognise
one of his assailants—the one who gave the thrust, the
instigator of the plot ; and he saw all the three run down
the street, and disappear in the darkness. Suffice it to
say, that the victim survived ; his three assailants were
sentenced to severe punishment ; but whether it ever
was executed, with all the rigour of the law, I know
not, and much doubt ; for, in Mexico, a sentence and
the execution of it have not the same certainty of con-
nection as Cause and effect.

The knife and lasso are not the only drawbacks to
the delightful climate of Central America. Her•
is a description of the plague of mosquitoes.
The river Guasamaleo is broad and deep, with a heavy
current, and surrounded by the delwe vegetation of a
most luxuriant tropical country. It is now navigable,
for nearly ten leagues from the mouth, for vessels of
goodly draught, and thelharbour, on the Atlantic side,
is much better than that on the Pacific. The region all
around, as far as the eye can wander, is an unbroken
expanse of foliage,—a virgin forest of the most luxuriant
tropical growth,—rich, blooming, overflowing with
strength avid vitality,—a picture of untrammeled nature
revelling in produc,ion and reproduction from au inex-
haustible soil. So tar, everything is worth seeing ; but
there are thorns on this rose ; for the bushes of endless
varieties are powdered over by countless millions of
rue-quitoes, that, on being disturbed, buzz in clouds
around your head, and seem, as a Yankee might say,
"to crowd out" the very atmosphere around you.
Reader, do you know what mosquitoes are ! Hese
the weary minutes of the night been ever counted on
you by a hundred stings in each of them t Have you
felt the fever that rages in the blood when the fatigue
of the day draws your bead to the pillow, and sleep
is flagellated out of you by stings that burn like
nettles I If not, you will think this chapter on mos-
quitoes a light matter, to be slipped over in the book of
tropical characteristics ; but experience would teach
you to think differently, as it taught me after this
lesson.

------
We. bad been forewarned of what was to be expected,
and had brought our mosquito-Wettings with us, other-
wise we might have been obliged to do to ourselves as
we did to our horses, that is, tied them with doable
roper, to prevent them running into the river from the
sheer madness of pain. Poor animals, they were covered
wick blood in the morning, my white horse had quite
crimson hue, and all three of them looked exhausted ani
weary.
An American settler, who lived near the banks of
this river, with his wife and family, retired, every day
at three o'clock in the afternoon, into the fastnesses
of his mosquito-bars, taking with him provisions for
supper, a book, pipe, and tobacco. Two or three
times the Mexican Government sent a little garrison of
soldiers to an old fort at the mouth of the river ;
but, each time, they died oat rapidly, from fever,
caused mainly from the incessant irritation of mosquito.
bites.

We did not protract our stay in that neighbourhood,
bat returned, in double-quick time, to Tehuantepec,
where, at least, the plague of mosquitoes was compara-
tively unknown.
The work is written in a lively and pleasant style,
full of anecdotes and adventures. If it does not
present any striking originality, it is, at least, in'
teresting, showing Mexican society from a German
point of view, and affording a pleasant insight into
the manners of the people. We must not omit to
mention the engravings, which are numerous, and
the coloured plates, which are very elegant, *nu
are a valuable addition to this handsome volume•