Pittsburg dispatch. [volume] (Pittsburg [Pa.]) 1880-1923, 1890-08-17
A WORLDS WONDER.
Visit to the Mammoth Cayerns Of
Cacahuamilpa in Mexico.
GORGEOUS PALACE UNDERGROUND.
Vast Depths in Which Pistol Shots Be-
come the Roar Of Cannon.
ADVENTURES IN The AZTEC LANDS

CAVE OF ,CACAHUAMILPA,
MEXICO, August 2.
"You must give me 80 pesosp'
"Have you taken leave of your sensesf"
'Do you think do not know the price?"
"Goodby."
81 say. senior, how mnch will you give?"
II will give you 20 pesos"
"Now you are not reasonable; give me 26
pesos and it will be SALE"
"All right; have him ready early in the
morning"
The foregoing was the substance Of dia-
logue in Spanish which took place one
morning about two weeks ago before the low
adobe hut of an humble Mexican in the
suburbs of the capital. The object Of the
dialogue stood near by, occasionally blink
ing his sleepy eyes and shaking his long
head as though he understood every word.
A pair of long ears erected now and then as
if better to catch the conversation, and two
pairs of slender, musceled legs unmistakably
proclaimed the species of the animal. 1t was
a mule. had been rather doubtful Of the
good qualities Of the animal at first sight,
but after the owner had volubly declared
him to be a hard worker and q small eater,
and had offered to sacrifice dilapidated
saddle with him, 1 concluded that tprobablY
my judgment on mules was not correct, and
paid over my 20 pesos. Jocko was the ami
mails name.
OFF FOB THE CAVERN.
just as the sun was showing itself on the
following morning above the tall peaks that
bound on the East the beautiful valley of
the City OF Mexico We started southwark.
Jocko, who seemed very tractable, allowed
me to bind my grip and lunch bag on his
back and then TO climb into the saddle with
out showing any signs of displeasure, and
when Missed into his ears-the Mexican
driver uses his teeth instead Of his tongue in
urging his animals forward-he started
off at lively canter that rapidly con-
sumed miles, but proved distressing
to various portions OF my anatomy.
We had completed more than half
our journey to Cuernavaca when
the thick, black clouds overhead told that
the daily shower was at hand. Accordingly
shelter was sought in the thatched hut of
peon close by the road. Now, the hut of a
Mexican peon ID neither the most convenient
nor the most odorless place in the world.
Instead OF a bed there is hard stone or mud
floor; instead of bedding there is a heap of
straw or sometimes rags, and tor a covering
there is an old blanket which has not been
aired in weeks, and which is peopled-by
your imagination at least-by myriads of
creeping things. The entire family-father.
mother, and generally whole horde of of
spring-bunk together in one corner with
such accommodations as these and really
appear refreshed when they rise in the
morning. Sometimes when space is scarce
without litter of pigs and a brood of
chickens will also find quarters within the
hut
A SLEEPLESS NIGHT.
Although Law in my hammock it can be
imagined that amid such surroundings
sleep that night was neither of the most
restful nor the most profound kind, and 1
was heartily glad when the morning broke
and allowed the journey to be continued.
The way led down the long mountain road
and the sun had not long shown his hot face
above the mountain tops before we were
passing through the great sugar haciendas
Of this region-the largest and most produc-
tive in the Republic. Great fields of wav-
ing cane fauked the road on both sides and
extended back as far as the eye could reach.
The scene was strong reminder of those
along the Louisiana shore of the Missis-
sippi river.
At midday we were riding into the beau
tiful little town OF Cuernavaca, with its nu-
mementoes of Cortez, the Spanish conqueror.
The town seems to have had small respect
for the dwelling places of prominent per-
sonages, for the once-famous palace of the
conuueror it has converted into a court
.house-whether as a sarcastic reminder of
infexible injustice which the bloody Span
lard always dealt out to the native no one
was able to inform me-and the villa of the
ill-fated Emperor Maximillan 1t has turned
into a schoolhouse.
A RACE OF AZTECs.
A short distance from the town along a
road that might at one time have permitted
the passage of a wagon, but which is now
so rough and overgrown with brush that
even q mule has difficulty in picking its
way, lies the little village of Acopancingo.
Here is one of the few places in the imme-
diate range of travel where can be seen
Indians OF the pure Mexican type, who from
the various modes of lite, the various mod
ern customs and the various modern imple-
ments offered them by the incoming civiliza-
tion have accepted only one-religion.
They speak the same tongue as the ancient
Aztecs, they dress in similar garments, they
practice the same manners. And as one rides
slowly through their few cleanly streets,
observes their extensive and well-cultivated
farms, sees on every hand indications of
wealth obtained by industry and is charmed
by their quiet and simple life, almost un-
consciously the mind wanders back to those
ancient days when the all-powerful Mon
tezuma welded his scepter here, and the
long time ancestors of these same people
with the toll OF scores of years and myriads
of hands erected those massive and puzzling
works Of architecture, remains of which the
energetic traveller finds throughout the Re
pablic.
A CELEBRATED CAVERN.
A ride OF two days-so rough that much
of the pleasure of Its object is sacrificed in
the fatigue which it entails-directly south
from Cuernavaca brings the traveller to the
celebrated cavern of Cacahuamilpa, than
which Mexico presents no more wonderful
or interesting natural phenomenon. 1t has
even been asserted by the few who have
visited it that no finer cavern is to be found
in the world. And here it might be re-
marked as an indication of the non-pro-
gressive qualities of the average Mexican,
that although the cavern possesses attrac-
tlons sufficient to draw hundreds OF visitors
yearly, not single conveyance of any kind,
regular or irregular. runs to it, and nowhere
in the vicinity are there to be found quar-
ters that could be regarded as decent, much
less comfortable.
AS guide engaged peon, whose race,
although much begrimed with dirt, showed
signs OF more than ordinary intelligence,
and whose tongue, wagging with q volubil-
ity almost unknown to his class, informed
me with much redundancy that its possessor
knew not only all of the interior of the cave
but also small and easy entrance thereto,
unknown to every one but himself
THE SECRET PASSAGE.
Supplied with candles from my grip, we
set out Over stretch of broken ground and