The Seattle post-intelligencer. [volume] (Seattle, Wash. Terr. [Wash.]) 1888-1914, 1891-05-31

Tar zntulas. In the higher mountain re-
fioas it il cold, but on this Mexican
glsssssu yon find , the ideal climate of the
kreater part Of Mexico, and this may be
called the climate Of Mexico. Here the
climate is the perfection of a pleasant
june in Ohio the year round. The air is
ss pure as that which sweeps over Egypt
4s1ln the desert IN winter time. and South
Italy and Greece can furnish no more
bes atiful skies than these. / am now
znore than mile above the sea and this
81 The level, not OF point on the noun
t<la side, but plateau upon which the
! biggest nation OF the continent, with the
81 eeption of Russia, could be lost There
Is perpetual sunshine here, aud the blue
G ~ Is are bluer than those of the United
Sites The sir IS so rare that the eye can
sec many miles farther than with u.s.
and it affects the nerves as though one
Nss breathing champagne. The skies are
cioser to the earth here than at home, the
Moon shines at night with greater bril-
Ezucy, and the diamond-Iike stars remind
M Of the luminous heavens which hang
IL st night over the Gulf of Siam. have
besn in Singapore, almost on the equator,
Were the thermometer stands at about 80
ths year round and where the air is always
ss urated with moisture. Here. | Judge
tie Thermometer averages about 10. and
tie air is as dry and celebrating as that
OF the equatorial Malaeca is moist and
ersrvating.
Think of a country where the crops grow
II luxuriant greenness all the year.
Where the rose grows into trees and flow
ers bloom forever. ] saw Yesterday men
harvesting crops in one end of field while
other men were planting the same crops at
the other. Upon parts of this plateau
Strawberries are ripe during every week of
TIE year, and everything seems to grow at
any time it Ia planted. The rule about
EsIao is two crops of wheat from the same
ground a year, and see that in harvesting
the wheat IS pulled root and all from the
ground, and this air and sun form the only
manure. This part of the Mexi-
can plateau is ike a garden. There
Is some irrigation. but in many places the
crops grow without it, and rode for miles
yesterday through lands which were as
rich as guano and as black as the rich soil
that makes glad the valley of the Nile.
The lands along the coast are, am told,
even richer than these uplands, and the
beautiful valley in which Mexico City is
located is one of the garden spots of the
world. Mexico City is about 1000
feet above the sea NV ride of yesterday
was at an altitude of more than 5000 feet
above the level o. the sea. The valley
through which we passed was lined on
both sides with mountains, which in the
hazy distance looked as though they had
been busted with the frosty silver which
is SO abundant within them. As we rode on
through the green. pointed to them and
asked one of my Mexican fellow-travelers
what lay beyond. He replied that on the
other side of the mount ains there were
other little valleys as rich as that through
which we we're passing, and the greater
part of Central Mexico was made up of
such country.
The whole of this country partakes of
the Orient The moment you cross the
Rio Grande you are in the lands of the ro-
mantle East rather than in the practical
West. The air, the sky and nature are
those of Palestine in spring time, and the
architecture reminds you now of Moorish
Spain. and again of the mud-huts of
Egypt. Tho people are among the most
picturesque on the globe. Every man is a
1T subject for painting, and the Ameri-
can artist, Mr.. Church. who has
spent seven winters in Egypt sketch
ing. says he finds Mexico a much
more fertile field than the well-worked
countries of Europe. As soon as | crossed
the Rio Grande | saw at every station
lusty, brigand-like men, with handsome
dark faces, shining out from great SOM
breros. the crowns of which came TO a
point foot above their heads. and the
brims of which seemed to be foot wide
all around. These hsts were gorgeous in
their silver and gold trimmings Some OF
them had ropes of silver around them al
most as thick as your wrist, and they
formed only part of the glittering cos
tunes of these Mexican dudes. The clothes
below them shone with silver buttons and
braid. The pantaloons Of some of the
men were striped with silver buckles, while
to the waist of each, fastened by q leather
belt filed with cartridges, hung q big
silver-mounted revolver. At many of the
stations men dressed in this manner would
gallop up on horses SIS gorgeously appar-
allied. and across the country We saw now
and then troops of cavalry dashing over
the fields. The costumes of the common
people were fully as picturesque, and both
men and women presented rare bits of
color and reminded us of the dance of the
nations In spectacular extravaganza.
The lower classes of the men of Mexico
dress in cotton, but they wear blankets of
all the colors of the rainbow about their
shoulders, and they drape these around
themselves in way that adds dignity and
grace to them. Many of these blankets
are of red flannel, and il you will take
blanket of this sort and throw it around
your shoulders and over your back some
morning as you hop out of bed in your
snow-wh ite pajamas, you will get some idea
of the Mexican peon. Your hair, however,
must he as black as the wing of the raven;
you must stain your face with walnut-Juice,
and put on your head one of these gor-
-
dated condition. You must get piece of
dirty sole leather SO large that your foot
can stand in il and leave a half inch of
space all around and tie this to your feet
with leather straps, first cracking your
heels and backing the soles of your feet
until they look more rough and tough
than the leather itself After you have
done this, you will present faint cariea-
ture of the Aztec of 1891. You are now
however, only the Aztec st rest. The
Aztec at work is q different matter, and
you will see him here in as many differ
csit occupations as are possessed by his
brother fellow in the land of Egypt He
carries the heavy burdens of the country
upon his back. He Tugs about Mexican
beer in pig-skins as the Bengalea water
carrier carries the water he has for sale,
and you see him in hundred different
forms on every street and in every one be
is new picture.
The women are as strange as the men.
though their plumage IS less gay. Those
of the Weather classes are dressed in
black. and the crowd at one of the eathe-
drals locks as though plague had struck
the town and all the women were in
mourning. In these interior cities 0! Mex
leo the better class women wear no hats.
and their heads are either bare or covered
with black shawl, out of which their
olive-complexioned faces shine and their
dark. lustrous eyes look at you with n
strange wonder. There is no greater beau
titier than black, and believe these
Mexican and Spanish women get
great part of their reputa-
tion for beauty from the clothes
they wear At first sight they appear