Sacramento daily record-union. [volume] (Sacramento [Calif.]) 1875-1891, 1886-02-13
BY..wAYs IN MEXICO.
UNBEATEN PATHS IN THE STATE
OF MICHOAyAN.
Maria-Material for a
MclOdrama.

Mclodrama.
Especial Correspondence of the RECORD UNION. ]
MoRELIA (Mexico), February 5, 1886.
Proceeding southwark from La Gabia, we
left the dusty highway and followed the
course of clear stream which led through
forests OF fir and oak that clothe the foot
hills for miles around. Our MONDAY meal
was partaken al .fresco by the river side,
where little patch of grass, starred with
dandelions, whose honest faces spoke of
home, had attracted us. And afterwards,
while the remainder of the party pelted
each other with cones in mock battle, like
the soldiers of the late proaulcia1niento,
your scribe, rendered somewhat homesick
by the unexpected sight of those northern
weeds. remained among them and thought
of distant days when she and they were
yellow-headed youngsters together.
Our next stopplng-place, called Ell Pilas,
is small hacienda, situated in a solitary
part OF the country, surrounded by dense
woods. A servant had been sent forward
to announce our approach and crave
! shelter for the night; and we found the
whole family assembled at the gates to re-
ceiye us, and dinner smoking upon the
. table. There is no bounds to the hospi-
tality of these people, and their goodness
and generosity is only equaled by their
confidence in stranger guests and the
beauty of their manners. The innate
politeness of the race shows itself in every
, movement and the most poor and ignor-
ant Mexican has bow at command and a
well-turned compliment at the end of his
tongue, whose exceeding grace an Ameri-
can could never initiate though he tried a
+, lifetime. We were surprised to find a
grand piano in this solitary place, and put
| it to use in the evening, tired as we We're,
! by an impromptu musicale and spirited
waltz.
AN AMUSING CIRCUMSTANCE
Was that the man who waited at table had
way of his own for saying grace with
which we were not familiar, and therefore
i were perpetually transgressing upon the
prophecies, though with the best inten-
tons. In Mexico every meal is served in
courses, but one article at time though il
be but spoonful of peas, and therefore
| the plates are many times removed. AT
each change ofdiet this pious waiter Topped
down upon the floor and repeated Span
/, ish prayer, proceeding which prolonged
| the meal beyond all precedent, and made us
as uneasy as Jerry Cruncher, not, however,
| like Dickens hero, from fear that he was
| praying agin U.s."
/ That night the four ladies were obliged
| to occupy one bed-an enormous affair,
which looked like huge sarcophagus, and
| might easily have accommodated as many
| more. With great pride our hostess in
formed us that Madam Yturbide had occu-
pied that great four posted sepulchre on her
way to the Capital to be coronated-poor
| thing it is wonder she was not lost in it
| By the way, everybody hereabouts speaks
| with enthusiasm of the ex-Emperor Ytur-
bide and his family, and not few would
| rejoice to see this sham of a republic aban-
| doned, and his son (the young Yturbide,
who lately returned to Mexico from Wash
! ington) placed at the head of monarchial
government.
ANOTHER DAY IN SADDLE.
| Next day we had more than fifty miles
! to make, as the country beyond was too
/, wild to admit of camping out in safety
with our small force, and the nearest ha-
cienda was the Trojes de Angangues a
mining district, the word Trojes literally
meaning "granaries." The road Law up
and up among the hills, ever ascending to
higher attitudes till even the virgin forests
were left below. Sometimes we dismount-
ed and walked up the steepest parts, to
rests our horses and ourselves Untrodden
as the trail appeared, an occasional cross,
hung with wilhered garlands gave token
of life as well as of death, showing
where travellers remain among these Alpine
solitudes, their lonely beds fragrant with
wild flowers, famed by pure air from
the mountain tops, and shaded by resinous
pines.
There are numerous tales of bloody
deeds which have been performed in this
section by the ComancheS, with some of
which our guide, Don Jesus Maria Guada.
lupe, entertained us en- route. 1t is as
tonishing what contrast there is between
the ferocious barbarians of the north and
the mild, gentle Indians of the interior !
Both are classed under the same general
name tlndians) which Columbus gave to
all the aborigines of the continent, sup
posing the land he sighted to be the Indies
but evidently they are of widely different
origin. The Comanches are an exceedingly
handsome, fne-looking race, whose re-
sources, both for war and trade, were once
so great that nothing but their natural
Incidence checked their aggressions, which
indeed were formidable. Though now
depleted in strength and numbers,
they still occasionally swoop down
from their hiding places in the
mountains upon solitary haciendas and
outlying ranches, committing wholesale
murder and depreciation. So tragical and
affecting are the traditions of some OF their
deeds, that they would form admirable
themes for the romancer or the dramatist.
We passed the spot where one of these
catastrophes occurred, and dismounted to
view two tall crosses roughly hewn from
pine logs, and to add our pebbles to the
goodly pile of stones that surrounded each,
in token that We too had said prayers for
the repose of the dead.
THE RUDELY-cARvED INSCRIPTIONS.
Translated from Mexican-C astilian. are as
follows Pause, passer-by, and bestow an
Ave Maria and Pater Noster for the re-
pose of the soul of Ysabel Mora, who fell
by the hands of the barbarians on the 18th
OF October, of the year 1SS-, in the flower
of her youth and beauty On the other:
Aqui yace Juan Maria Orteza, Vecino
de -, matado por los barbaros, ell dia IL
de Octubre, del ano 1SS-. Ora por ell,
Cristiano, por Dios.n
The outlines of the story, briefly. are
these, and anybody in search of materials
tc work up an exciting melodrama NAV
help themselves to it:
In rancho situated not far from Toluca
lived family of hardy vaqueros, or cattle
herders, the head of which was sturdy
old sexagenarian, known as Ell Coxo-'sthe
Game Leg" He reioiced in "ouiyer
well filled with arrows" since eight fine
strapping sons hailed him padre; than any
one of whom not a ranchero in all the
country round about could more dex-
trously colear a bull. or at the game of
gallo tear from its stake the unhappy
fowl and bear it safe from the pursuit of
competitors (but piecemeal) to the foot of
his admiring lady-love. OF these eight
mozos, he who bore away the palm of
rancheral superiority, but still in very
slight degree, was the third son, and the
handsomest (no little praise, where each