Incidents of Travel in Yucatan, Vol. II.Stephens, John L.
History
Incidents of Travel in Yucatan, Vol. II.
Stephens, John L.
Yucatán (Mexico : State) -- Description and travel
their new friends, two reales apiece to the Indians, and the revolution
was crushed. All dispersed, ready to take up arms again upon the same
terms whenever their country's good should so require.
Such were the accounts we had received, always coupled with sweeping
denunciations of the population of Tekax as revolutionary and radical,
and the rabble of Yucatan. Having somewhat of a leaning to revolutions
in the abstract, I was happy to find that, with such a bad reputation,
its appearance was finer, and more promising than that of any town I
had seen, and I could not but think it would be well for Yucatan if
many of her dead-and-alive villages had more such rabble.
The city stands at the foot of the sierra. Riding up the street, we had
in full view the church of La Hermita, with a broad flight of stone
steps scaling the side of the mountain. The streets were wide, the
houses large and in fine order, and one had three stories, with
balconies overhanging the street; and there was an appearance of life
and business which, coming as we did from Indian ranches, and so long
away from anything that looked like a city and the comforts and
elegances of living, was really exciting.
As we rode along a gay calesa approached us, occupied by a gentleman
and lady, well dressed and handsome, and, to our surprise, in the lady
we recognised the fair subject upon whom we had begun business as
Daguerreotype portrait takers, and whose gift of a cake had penetrated
the very leather of my saddle-bags. A few short weeks had made a great
change in her condition; she was now riding by the side of her lawful
proprietor. We attempted, by the courtesy of our salute, to withdraw
attention from our wearing apparel. Unluckily, Doctor Cabot's sombrero
was tied under his chin, so that he could not get it off. Mine, with
one of the strings carried away, described a circle in the air, and, as
the doctor maliciously said, disappeared under my horse. The gentleman
nodded condescendingly, but it was flattering ourselves to believe that
the lady took any notice of us whatever.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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