Daily union and American. [volume] (Nashville, Tenn.) 1865-1866, 1866-02-14
Union and American.
a VISIT no THE C0NFEDERATE
SErrLEMENT IN MExECO.

Jndre Perkins. Of I,euisiana---Il;s Opinion of
Max;milian--Hs comes viii me to F;sit
General Price Cclony--The i.ro tic Resoarcss
"a III tl.s tss.a Price st,d His Settle
meut-t;ovoruor Harris Chief C.rpeuter-Dos-
.cr;utiou offhe Coloay. etc.
s
Correspondence Of the Now York Tribune.
lll CoRDovt. Jan. Is. 1855.
When one leaves Vera Cruz for Cordova.
the first impression is that Of man who
should unexpectedly be taken to another
planet, and Who does not find in what he
| sees the image Of the world he has Just leis.
| The vegetation of the country is Of u peculiar
1 character. and bears no resemblance to the
vegetation of any other--in some places OF
l a dark green, bordering on black, In others,
| almost yellow, and 30 soft as 10 have been
| seemingly stolen from Heaven. The trees
| are also Ola a5eenliar shape and color. and
| the shrubbs are of 80 Quaint structure as
| 10 invite The attention of the passers-by. and
| flowers so odd and so brilliant as TO excite
| the admiration of all.
The peculiar beauty of this landscape is
also due TO the maenificense of its hilly
| frame and the almost supernatural bright
ness and artistic distribution of the light.
/ The sun in these regions seems TO have been
a special creation, and bears no resemblance
| to the sun of the northern cline. Here its
| rays have a peculiar hue: they are at once
soft and penetrating, mellow and acute.
| When you see them embrace plant Of
| bananas or a cluster of bamboos, you would
never say that it is the same power which
boils the water draws the trains and melts
adamant. -Ff+rrf dry
AS one advances northward. he sees in the
| background the frowning Mattaguiahuilt. a
mountain range which passes to the North
of Cordova, and running thence in cimi-
circle ends in San Juan de Ia Punta, almost
| cutting in its terminus the main road to
| Vera Cruz. In the center of this hilly re-
| gion, rising like two giants, and looking as
| the mighty yestiges Of an antideluyian crea-
| ton, the trayersing peak of Orizaba and the
snow clad head of the Popocatapetl strikes
| your sight as two huge pillars, strong enough
to prevent Heaven from falling. Their
massive proportions, their shriyeled faces,
| their. desolate peaks, form as striking con-
| trast 10 the smiling landscape in the midst
Of which they tower as centurian oak IN
| the midst of a sugar cane field. Their deep
wrinkles, overshadowed by pyramids Of
massive sulphur. and overrun by frozen
| floods of crisped lava, here and there inter
mingled with charming oasis. in the midst
of which rowing hands Of panthers and IT,
gers are said to nest. These ferocious AMI
mails. the terror of the Asiatic and African
| traveller and native, are almost harmless
here. They run away at the approach Of
man. and unless fred upon and wounded.
never show any disposition to revenge them
selves upon the masters OF the creation.
The cars which run from Vera Cruz to
Il
| miles. cannot be said to be very fast. but they
are as comfortable as any north of the Po-
tomac. and conducted almost ON the same
principles. Soft seats, large windows, plenty
| Of LIGHT swarms of flies and an abundance
| of dnst IL tb;s docs NOT const;tute fel;citv
/ do not know what docs. Nv conlpan-
ions. as far as / could Judge from their looks,
| were nearly all foreiSners As the French
was spoken more than any. other language
In indeed thai tbey formed the majority OF
| the travellers: next to them came the SPAN
| iards and the Mexicans. A few American
Rebels. two or three Germans. and as n,sr,v
| Italians were among the Messengers. The
eagineer as we'll as the conductor. were
| British. but smoke Spanish very intellioibly.
| /. II soon bees.me aesuainted with several Of
| nv travelling companions. The rebels par
\ 9ttenIlOn.
still clad in their former homespun coats
which looked as II they had suffered much
| from the severe trials to which they had
| been exposed. They appeared. however. as
| bouyant as If still on their old plantations
! and did not look as if they had lost their
| family. their home. their property. eyery-
thing. in word, dear to mans heart.
| Their hope was TO build up again fortune
and home. and to recover in Mexico what
they had lost in the rebellion Of the South.
| In Justice to them. must saw that they were
| extremely sober in the opinion they passed
upon their conquerors, against whom / did
not hear them utter single curse.
Two of these rebels hailed from Missis-
sippi. three from Georgia and one from Vir-
| einia. II was. however. sufficient for these
| men 10 learn that eae;. had served as n sol
| der in the Confederate army to create
| among them brotherly t;es--such as an ac-
| ouaintance of tan wears would never have
produced. Placed at the extreme end Of the
car. as If desirous TO avoid attracting the at
| tention of their fellow travellers. they spent
their time in talking Of the battles in which
| they had been. Of their reyerses. and so on.
differing as to the causes of the final collapse
of the rebellion. but agreeing as to the man
ner in which il might have been saved
One Of them. a Colonel in Gen. Prices
army. owing probably To a light blue home
spun coat and breeches. quite new. a huge
siouched hat of the finest wool. a pair of
elegant grayish mustaches- and an easy COM
mand ~ words seemed 70 exercise 4 decided
influence upon the crowd. and 10 be listened
10 with n marked degree Of defere1,ce and
resuects ~. =. ~.
Sincere or NOT. the feelings of the rebels
towards the United States assume 4 miTder
form here than AZ home. Distances which
blot ont bitterness Of resentment. the homes
and urospects of a Iarpe fortune Che knowl-
edoe thev have that the dasire az The
Emperor Ia that thew should abstain from,
auv utterance calculafed 10 wound the pride
and s,,seeptib;iities az the Americans. the
absorbing interest produced by the novelty
and richness of the Mexican laudssape. the
want az resi- the softenino juilueneo of the
climate The effect of eantivatin0 scenery
speaking N the senaes and In tbe magma,
t,on-ail tbis no doubt. contr;bute h leszan
the unpleasant remembrance OF the past
and IN deaden the pangs of defeat. I was
;nf,rn,ed inf that those wso have sire.dv ses-
tied here are even rrais;ne the Government
of the limited Statea As proof "a fhis.
one of nav neiohbors showed me n number
Of the MEXICAN Times edited kv C;overnor
Alien. NJ IIouis;anas a enIop;sf.s. article On
Pres;dent Johnx,n and Ms r6esss0e.
THE lingering cate ~ the esrs which
,xo,,Id y. ,,,;,o,s r, !, co,,,t-v ora, N tr,de
' - - >~~.~-s - - =