Daily Kennebec journal., 1902-03-18
THINGS IN MEXICO
And Very Attractive Place For the
Tourist II Is.

the adventure of Spain," without which
a young gentleman of family could
hardly consider his education complete.
Nowadays. thanks to- steam, all "ad-
venturing," as far as railways extend,
is merely matter Of money and in
'lination. Mexico, or New Spain," was,
20 years ago, as difficult of access from
the United States, as Spain from Eng
land in ancient days. There was the
sea gate at Vera Cruz, where ships
made perilous anchorage in an. unpro-
tected roadstead, sahd then came the
journey in diligence to this capital
and perils from brigands who were the
real masters Of the road. This before
the Mexican railroad was built.
To enter Mexico from the north was
an enterprise for the hardest Of trav-
elers the roads were bad, "mala gente"
on many Of them, and long days Of
dust, and heat, and thirst before any
considerable town could be reached. A
Scotch friend has recently written us
that he made the journey from Texas
to this capital 20 years ago on horse
back, and enjoyed it; but he had jour-
neyed much in the Argentine before
the railways, and of late, in Morocco,
wholly innocent of the modern method
of locomotion.
Nowadays all is changed; travel is
made comfortable and often luxurious;
! women in small parties, travel here,
making the adventure of Mexico" with
ease and perfect safety. Tourists are
numerous and of all kinds, some (per-
haps the mOst) seeing nothing but the
new material development, Opportuni-
ties for investments, prospects of gain;
| others there be who look at Mexico in
| it's intensely interesting aspect of a
country unique in linguistic and eth
nological blends, for here the Moor has
| left traces Of his language and customs,
these mingled with the customs and
| languages of the Aztecs and other In
| dian races. while the genius Of the
! tenacious Spaniard presides over the
complex civilization of the country.
In architecture the man or woman of
education sees the marked influence of
| Arabian taste and usage for here the
Moorish house, with patio, or court, is
| common, the barred windows, the porch
| with its huge doors, through which one
| sees towers and fountains, all most
Andalusan and derived by the south
ern Spaniards from the MoOrs. who, in
turn, got it all from the Saracens, and
! they from the Persians. Thus Mexico,
architecturally, is very oriental; great
| American artists and architects have
come here and admired the severe lines
of stately ancient buildings, where
| beauty is achieved without "a petty
ornamentation. The Moor has left his
Arabic words all over the Mexican
'tcasa." The 'zaguan" or porch the
"aZotea." or roof, these are Arabic
words. The "albanil." or mason, who
builds the walls and lays the roof, is
| called by another Moorish name. The
list might be greatly extended. The
tourist. calling for his "taza" of coffee,
uses, unconsciously, the Arabic "tast, -
! or cup; he admires the display in the
"joyeira,' or jewelers., and what is
"joya," jewel. but the Arabic "jua-
har"? "Almacenes," or warehouses;
"szucar" or sugar, "algodon," in which
one sees clearly the origin of cotton
| all words of the Arabic vocabulary.
| The high-peaked national saddle is
the Moorish saddle modified. and the
technical vocabulary of every trade in
Mexico is filled with Moorish terms.
A few came from the Indian languages,
and Aztec and Arabian meet in the new
world. The Spanish language has the
Latin manliness and dignity with a
strong blending of the color Of the
Arabic. Spanish differs thus from
Italian, also descended from the Latin
in certain oriental majesty and vivid