Fort Worth daily gazette. (Fort Worth, Tex.) 1882-1891, 1885-01-05


pepper, and grows i'm abundance all
over the country. 1t is very common
tn see them gather handful from
bush and devour them as we would
grapes.
| AN ANTGDoTE AGAINST TIE WOLVES
/ They alsD use garlic to great eX-
tent, which no doubt accounts for
l the well known fact that a vultuTe
or wolf Ia never known TO
modest the dead body Of one of The ma.
/ lives. All who have travelled through
Mexico know this to be fact, and our
observation was that wolves often
| times unearthed the body of an Amer
1 lean and left the body OF a Mexican
IN the same grave unmolested This
was noticeable on the ground at Rasa-
ca Dlablo, where the destruction of the
wagOn-train before alluded To occurred,
between Monterey and Ceralvo. A
large Mexican force came on the train
suddenly, captured the escort and
BIAssACRED THE UNARMED TEAM
STEERS,
about two hundred in number. After
rObbing the wagons they burned them
where they stood, and when a
detachment OF our regiment was sent
to the scene of action, we found lies
OF ashes where the wagons had stood
and not piece Of iron as much as
nail left on the ground. That metal
was scarce commodity there then
/ The mules and harness had all been
taken, together with what stores they
/ could carry away. The MeXioAns
were many miles distant before we ar
rived at the ng-to-be-remembered
spot The whites had been buried a
few days before our arrival along the
roadside where they were found; but
the coyotes, which abound
In that country, had already
unearthed them and the bones
of the victims were the CHASTITY spec
I tacles that met our view. There was
only one Mexican killed in the affair.
He was never buried, and up TO the
time we left that country, several
months after this massacre, his body
was still intact and had
NEVER BEEN MoLEsTED.
Those of us who had an inquiring
turn Of mind soon learned a smatter-
ing of the language, which, among the
Castillians, is pure Spanish, while
among the poems the adulterated Span
lsh rs spoken. We also had many OD-
| pnrtunities to learn their manners and
| customs from employees of our army.
/ MeHicans were employed by Gen.
/ TAYLOR in many capacities.
We noticed ut short and irregular
intervals along our marches cross
erected with an inscription in Spanish,
and a pile of stOLes around the foot OF
| the monuments, Occasionally one of
our muleteers would alight and after a
short prayer throw u pebble or stone
on the pile that was collected, in MEM
/ Dry of some friend or important per-
/ sonage, who had been murdered 40
that spot by bandits or other persons.
/ IGNORANCE AND DEPRAVITY OF THE
LOWER CLASSES.
/ The lower classes OF MeNicans are la
mentally deficient In education, and
seemed 10 plod along with no higher
aim than having enough to eat to day.
] The men are all az home on horse
| back and the use OF the lAsso
or lariat h part Of their education.
Their little boys take TO them like ours
/ do 10 marbles
The Roman Catholic was the estab.
| lished church, and the entire popula-
| ton were members Their cathedrals
were magnificent Even their humble
| villages could boast OF q building for
public worship equal TO any in oar
/ largest cities
a RACE or GAMBLERS
The MeNtcans nearly all gambled.
IL WAS no uncommon thing To see
three games going on In one house
among one family, the men seated on
one cowhide, the women on
another and the children sin
on another, betting small |
coin, which represented three cents
In our money. The laws did not ne.
strict gambling then and IL was carried |
On constantly on the plazas OF their clt. |
les and towns,
The people were generally true Ia |
their country, and We could readily \
notice the low esteem In which me |
community generally held those of
their counlrymen whe sold their aer-
vices to ms, their enemies, for money. |
All classes were clearly In their per-
son Iheir cities, towns and villages
We're always quilt on or near a never
falling stream, and / dare say the
largest portion Of the population hattie
every day during the ear. Profanitv
10 universal among their man
while immodesiy and lewdness was
very uncommon among their women.
THE NATIONAL DRINKS.
Drunkenness WIS very rare, as far
as we observed, except ON an annual
festival which occurs some time In
March On that day the drink called
"pulquen which Is the fermented
juice OF the maguey. a plant grown
ihere-is set Ia large vessels on the
street-eorneTs and Is free to AN. Ii
tastes like Il cross between soap-suds
aud dish-water, but during the course
OF the day the men drink large quanti-
Ties OF II and get Jolly. This Juice
distilled turns out 'meseal y
very strong drink II ia said a man .
will not get over drunk OF II Ia less
than two weeks. "AguaaIdienteii h ,
another OF their national drinks. and /
y the same as our New England I