Los Angeles daily herald., 1889-01-09
THE HERALD MAIL.
Correspondence From Points
Wide Apart.
MISS Adds MEXICAN LETTER,
The Alhambra. San Gabriel and Santa
Ana, and their Affairs Discussed
in Brief Paragraphs.

| III DIlcl dIdS Idpu6s
had passed by Zacatecas nearly q
dozen times, but had never stopped
there, owing chiefly to the piercing wind
that inspires one with terror in the briei
stop at this station. One bright Novem-
Der morning 1 took an extraordinary
number of wraps and manfully stepped
into the train running down into the
city. had number of friends in the
place, but as Fate would have it, not a
man or woman of them but was absent,
| for business or pleasure, at the moment.
Among other letters of introduction,
had one for our Consul at that point, but
the gentleman could not be found for a
long time, and meanwhile found quar-
ters at the Hotel Zacatecano, which. like
many other hostelries of Mexico. occu-
pies an ancient convent. And l may say,
moreover, that the restaurant here-the
house is on the European plan, and lodg-
ings and dining-room are under different
management-is about the best 1 have
found in Mexico, while the charges
are very moderate. The manager is a
comely and pleasant little French woman,
whose brother is the cook, and they
understand their business. My some-
what dismal outlook became modified
after had presented my letter of intro
duction to Mr.. Juan Petit, leading banker
and capitalist. When Mexican letter
of introduction is not dishonored COM
pletely-a thing which, it must be said.
rarely happens-it is good for a large
reserve fund of courtesy and kindness.
Mr.. Petit at once set about putting me
in communication with the people who
could give me most information, and
planned some expeditions with members
Of mis- family. Some of the persons to
whom he introduced me named a num-
ber of Americans in the city, but could
recognize the name of no acquaintance
among them, owing to the incompetency
of Latin tongues to cope with Anglo-Saxon
patronymics, as I discovered later. Don
Antonio Ulloa, public librarian of the
city, brought around gentleman named
Meyers, citizen of San Francisco, who
kindly offered to escort me to the Bufa,
and we set out thither. 1t is rated about
500 feet perpendicular from the main
plaza to the top of the Bufa, but it really
seemed to me felt more fatigue in
ascending it than did when climbed
Popocatapetl, Notwithstanding the road
is wide and goes up in long, sweeping
zig-zags that might be traversed by a
carriage. This hill is notable in the his
tory of Zacatecas. At its foot camped
Jaun de Tolosa, when he first come over
hither. There is the scene of the combat
enormously said to have taken place
between the Spaniards and the Indians,
when the Virgin, patroness of the city, is
reported to have "thrown dust in the
eyes" of the latter, most literally. The
Bufa is topped by chapel built by the
Count de la Laguna, which is regarded
as inferior in sacredness only to the
shrines at Amecameca and Guadalupe
Hidalgo. At the right, facing the
chapel, is crest Of rock, perhaps 100
feet higher, which from a distance
is remarkably suggestive of some great
prehistoric monster, couchant. On this
bill we're burned, during one of Mexico's
revolutions under General Rocha, back
in the COS, the bodies of the men slain
in the combat, and some scandal mongers
assert that to the dead were added many
of the wounded of the conquered party.
4A6 Wow lIOll tAC bula 10 ~ duQ3 COu1"
prising the wild, savage hills, the deep,
dark gorges, the monuments and furnace
chimneys and tunnel-mouths of the
mining fraternity, with the spurs of the
Sierra Madre that run almost to the Pa
cific, and, deep in the ravine below, the
city, whose ground plan, curiously
enough, is an excellent outline of
"spread-eagle." 1t was almost quite
dark when we came down from the Bufa
and made our way through the quaint
streets, many of which are quite like
wide stairways; and under great
arches, like the bridges of Venice,
that span other thoroughfares.
The lights were all a-twinkle
and the effect was finely picturesque.
My escort almost ran against soldierly
figure of a man, sauntering along, alb
sorbed like ourselves in the foreignness
OF it. There was halt, few words of
explanation, and then l was shaking
hands with Mr.. Harmer, of whom had
been hearing from California friends for
some two years past, and whose clever
paintings had won my regard when last
in Los Angeles. Our paths in Mexico
had crossed more than once, but we had
not met before. Mr.. Harmer certainly
has a wonderful genius for work on
Mexico-perhaps even more than had
Kate More, that clever young artist
whom Angelefios will remember as hav-
ing done no little to perpetuate the sur.
viving traces of the Mexican occupation.
But she, alas, "done an went an got
married." with "The Story of Avis"
staring her in the face, and Mr.. Harmer
is, happily, still among us. Some OF his
work on Mexico is very fine. There is
in the public library at Zacatecas
sketch by him of woman
making tortillas, which. for spirit,
coloring and general fidelity could hardly
be surpassed. For some weeks past he
has been with friends in the wilder por.
tions of the interior, and am told he
will bring back splendid harvest of
material. Against the competition of
Mexican painters am told that Mr..
Harmer will be selected to redecorate
the cathedral at Leon, and my friend
Don Francisco v, the commissioner
who is rebuilding that fioed-devastated
city, assures me that upon his own de-
sire depends the certainty of successful
future in Mexico for Mr.. Harmer. can
insure him kindly welcome from the
fraternity in this capital.
70