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Writing Type: Book
An account of his travels around the provinces during his time as Charge d´Affairs, 1825-1827.
Keywords: Mexico, diplomats, foreigners´ observations, convents, women
Archive: Robinson Library, University of Newcastle
Text: Vol. 2
p.121 "The more I saw of the country, the more I became convinced that the people were wearied out with Civil war, and desired nothing but independence and tranquillity. The race of the Insurgents has died off; the population of the Provinces has reverted to its original pursuits; and although a struggle for place and power may be carried on with great personal animosity in the Capital, the States are indifferent as to the result, and are occupied only with their own affairs.
I am not aware of the existence of any cause, [p.122] (with the exception always of a hostile movement on the part of Spain,) that could again disorganise the great mass of the population; and it is this alone that the Companies in general have to apprehend. Partial disturbances indeed may, and probably will occur; but these are of little moment, and could hardly exercise any very prejudicial effect upon the Mining interests of the country."
p.237 He comments on the Academy of San Carlos that instructed indigenous students to draw and to make models for religious images. "Some of the most promising pupils were found amongst the last civilised of the Indian population. They seemed [...] to draw by instinct, and to copy whatever was put before them with utmost facility; but they had no perseverance, soon grew tired of such little restraints as the regulations of the Academy imposed, and disappeared, after a few lessons, (p.238) to return no more. It remains to be seen whether anything can be effected, by a better system of government, for a race of men composed of such heterogeneous elements. In 1824 they were nothing but a public nuisance. It was hardly possible to pass through those parts of the towns, of which they had possession; and had it not been for the purity of the air, the accumulation of filth before their doors must infallibly have produced a pestilence. The fear of wandering, by mistake, into their territories, which we did, once or twice [...] induced us latterly to prefer the Tacubaya road to any other, because it led at once into the open country, and afforded an easy communication with the spacious avenues, which extend from the Chapultepec gate in different directions, for nearly two leagues around the town."
p.238 "[In 1824] A civil war, carried on with unexampled cruelty on both sides, had desolated the country for thirteen years; and, although the contest with Spain was at length decided, the disturbances which had arisen in consequence of Iturbide’s elevation to the throne, had terminated only a few months before our arrival. [...] p.239 The streets of the Capital were unlighted; the pavement in many places destroyed, and the principal houses shut up; while the general appearance of the population bespoke poverty and distress. There was hardly a single foreign resident." (p.240) Apart from Mr Ruberti of Green and Hartley and Mr Staples who had arrived a few months earlier.
p.265 18 March 1825 on route from Veracruz to Mexico City. Ward’s heavily pregnant wife is now with him. He describes the hospitality given to them. "At Jalapa, where we were most luxuriously lodged in the house of Madame Santa Ana, we were welcomed by General Barragan himself, and his very pleasing wife, with a kindness and hospitality such as I have seldom seen equalled.
We remained one day at Jalapa, in order to be present at a dinner given by General Barragan, at which we met all the Authorities, both civil and military, and almost every person of respectability in or near the town."
p.268 In Puebla, a crowd gathered to get a glimpse of "the first appearance of an English woman". Even though, he states, "not with standing the presence of Madame Calderon, and tow or three aides-de-camp of the Governor".
p.268 "La Puebla contained, at that time, a Lazzaroni population nearly as numerous as that of the Capital; a naked and offensive race, whom you cannot approach without pollution, or even behold without disgust. (p.269) I do not know any thing in nature more hideous than an old Indian woman, with all the deformities of her person displayed, as they usually are, by a dress which hardly covers a tenth of her body; and in La Puebla, in consequence of the numerous convents in which alms were distributed, these objects were particularly numerous. We were too happy to escape by a different door from that by which we had entered, and to take refuge in the carriage."
p.396 September 1826, Mexico City . His plans to go into the interior of Mexico were "deranged by the illness of my eldest little girl, who was very nearly killed by a coup de soleil, which brought on a brain fever, and left us, at one time, very little hope of her surviving. To the skill and unremitting attentions of Doctor Wilson we were indebted for her recovery, but she was long in too weak a state to bear the fatigue of travelling; and as Mrs Ward had resolved (p.397) upon accompanying me, and could not reconcile herself to the idea of leaving her children for two whole months, our departure was put off from day to day, in order to allow time for our little invalid to gather strength."
p.402 Journey to northern Mexico, Querétaro, Guanajuato. "Mrs Ward was accompanied by two Mexican maids, who, with the children, occupied a large coach drawn by eight mules."
p.406 Mrs Ward preferred to travel on horseback and not in the coach. "[Mrs Ward] endeavoured, from the first, to extend her daily rides until she was enabled to perform nearly the whole distance on horseback: which she so far accomplished that she must, I think, have ridden fourteen hundred miles out of the two thousand, to which the aggregate of our journey may have amounted."
p.407 "Chapalita, the Indian nurse, used to superintend the culinary operations [...]; and often have I seen her, before daylight, bending over the fire, (p.408) and concocting a kettle of Atolli, or Champorada, with the child slung over her back in the Indian fashion, and exposed to the bracing cold of the morning air. [...] The little creature seemed to thrive upon this system, and as all was confusion within that hour, the servants being busy in making up the loads, and her mother occupied with the care of her less healthy sister, we generally let her take her chance." He carried with them small tin cases of milk and cream from England, hermetically sealed, but not quite full. When they were opened, they’d turned into butter by the churning of the horses but it was a very agreeable addition to our fare."
p.410 He praises Mrs Ward: "for it was dreary work getting up, day after day, two hours before sunrise, and sitting for one hour, at least in a cold room, wrapped in a manga or a buffalo skin, with a poor little sick child to take care of, while the complicated arrangements of packing and loading were going on. In December we had a hard frost almost every night; and as there was no possibility of getting a fire of any kind within doors, there was little warmth or comfort to be obtained before the sun rose; and though we knew we should be scorched afterwards, we have often hailed its appearance as a real relief. For the scarcity of rooms, Mrs Ward, the two children, and the maids were usually quartered together; Mr Martin and I slept in another apartment; the rest of the party in a third; while if a fourth could be procured, which was not often the case, it served to hold the canteen and supper apparatus, after which the servants crowded into it for the night, with a saddle and Serape each for a bed. They had a bull-dog with them to guard their belonging with whose ferocious looks the natives were much alarmed. And a white terrier dog that he took with him on all his travels in lieu of a lock on the door."
p.414 Between San Juan del Rio to Arroyo Sarco, (Llano del Cazadero). A wheel came off the coach carrying their children. The Wards left them, and rode to San Juan, to buy a new wheel and they sent it back to the coach. At 3am the coach still had not arrived: "Mrs Ward became so uneasy for the want of her child, which was still on the breast, that I resolved to go myself in search of it on horseback." The coach was where they had left it as the wheel had been the wrong size; the servants had taken the old wheel to a hacienda some way off, to try to get it repaired. "As there was little hope this would be speedily effected, I took the youngest child from its nurse, and making a sort of scarf with a Tapalo, or long Indian shawl that she lent me, I deposited in it my little charge, and having secured it still farther with a silk sash, I put my horse into a gentle canter, and took once more the road to the town. The child was a good deal astonished at first with the novelty of its situation, but the motion put it to sleep, and, with an occasional squall or two, we reached San Juan about 9 o’clock, after a ride rather longer than it often falls to the lot of a little creature of five months old to undertake."
p.417 Querétaro. The Convent of Santa Clara "contains a population of two hundred and fifty females, composed of seventy nuns (p.418)and as many young ladies are sent their for their education, with lay-sisters and attendants."
p.464 They were told, "it would be impossible for us, with children and a lady of the party, to attempt to cross the country between Catorce and Durango, where we should find neither houses, nor accommodations of any kind. [....] p.465 [B]ut Mrs Ward having resolved rather to take her chance of bivouacs, and a little starvation, than to be left behind until we could meet her again at Agua Calientes, we determined to take our own line, and to trust to Providence to carry us through. [...] With the exception of my little girl, who was still far from strong, we were all in admirable travelling condition. Ourselves; so that we looked forward with almost pleasure to the difficulties we were about to encounter."
p.468 "Our accommodations at the Tlachiquera were exceedingly bad. [...] (p.469) Mrs Ward was lodged in a barn, where she was considerably annoyed on the following morning by a mule, that forced its way in through the shattered door, just as she was beginning her toilet, notwithstanding her vehement entreaties that no one would come in."
p.484 Arrival at Cañada de Catorce: "Mr Macartney, the managing agent of the Catorce Company, had the goodness to take charge of the eldest little girl, with a horse perfectly accustomed to the roads; while Mrs Ward, with the baby in her arms, was seated in a silla de manos, (a sort of sedan-chair, open before,) belonging to the Obregones, which was carried by four Indians."
p.516 Catorce, 3 December 1826. A party given for the Wards by the Obregons the day before their departure. "In the evening we went to a ball, at which all the belles of the place were assembled. We found the same scarcity of gloves and corsets amongst the ladies, as at Guanajuato, but segars were countless; and though the old Mexican mackaw dress if 1823, (scarlet and yellow, [p.517] with pink or green shoes,) prevailed in all its purity, the brilliancy of the colours was rendered less intolerable by the clouds of white smoke in which the wearers were enveloped. The utmost good-humour however prevailed, as soon as the appearance of ‘etiqueta rigurosa,’ which the presence of so formidable a person as Mrs Ward at first occasioned, had a little subsided."
p.516 Describes a steep ´formidable´ descent from Catorce: "Yet so familiarised had we become with rocks and precipices, that Mrs Ward did not think o dismounting, but rode down the Cañada without apprehension. (p.518) She had indeed served a pretty good apprenticeship during her residence in the place, for the road to the two Socabones of La Purisima and La Luz, to both of which she accompanied me, is infinitely worse than that to La Cañada; and even the ascent to the Veta Madre, which she visited two or three times, in order to get a good drawing of the town from the Tiro del Compromiso, is not without danger."
p.593 Pearls to be found on the Mazatlán to Guaymas coast. "The pearls of Madame de Regla, of her sister the Marquesa de Guadalupe, and of Madame Velasco, are all remarkable for their size." He speaks about Lieutenant Hardy, who managed a pearl fishing enterprise.
p.594 "When I left Mexico, Lieutenant Hardy had not returned from the North. He is said to be wandering amongst the savage tribes of the Pimeria Alta, with whom he had contrived to establish friendly intercourse; and he will probably in this way acquire a knowledge of the country hitherto unexplored by any white. A taste for such adventure has always been a remarkable feature in this gentleman’s character. A few years ago, being out of employment, he took a passage on board a merchant-vessel to the vicinity of Tierra del Fuego, (near Cape Horn,) where he was landed amongst the (p.595) Patagonians, with whom he remained a year and a half, before the arrival of another vessel enabled him to bring himself in communication again with the civilized world. It is supposed, however, that he is not influenced in his present excursion by mere curiosity, but a wish to investigate the mineral treasures of the Indian country, which are thought to be very great."
p.612 Durango. Mentions the respectable Creole families there. "Amongst these were two sisters of General Victoria, very lively and most enthusiastic politicians, a talent for which in Durango there was unfortunately much scope. The town was divided into two parties, Liberales, and Serviles; the first, the friends and supporters of the Governor, eager in the promotion of every useful reform; and the latter arrayed in battle under the banners of the Cathedral (p.613) Chapter, as the opponents of all innovation, particularly in matters connected to the church."
p.614 "The women [of Durango], instead of passing their days in languor and idleness, are employed, with bustling activity, in superintending the details of the menage, and even take a very efficient part in that most important department, the kitchen. The consequence is, that there is no part of the Republic in which the advantages of cleanliness are so highly appreciated, or the little comforts of life so well understood. My room at the Governor’s was delightful, and I still have a lively recollection of the excellence of the Café au lait, which his kind and amiable wife brought me each morning with her own hands. I was told that this was general throughout the North, the Biscayan race and a system of good housewifery having spread together; and in Durango the general appearance of the women bespeaks more domestic habits. They are little seen in the streets, or at public places, and better educated at home. At a ball and concert, (p.615) [...] I heard several very respectable amateur performers, particularly two sisters who played a duel together on the pianoforte with a great facility of execution. But the queen of the evening was a young professional singer from Guarisamey, (the Pasta of Durango,) whose talents were undergoing the necessary cultivation to qualify her for sustaining the part of Prima Donna at the opera of the town. Her vocal abilities had been discovered by the friend of the Governor’s, who recommended her to his protection; and though I cannot in reason be expected to be as enthusiastic in her praise as her ‘Apasionados’ in Durango, I must confess she had a most powerful voice, which, when modified by a little tuition, might possibly be rendered agreeable."
p.616 Hot springs near Fresnillo. "Very inviting as a bath, but usually occupied by a succession of Indian women, two or three of whom may be found at any hour of the day sitting up to their necks in water, and very much amused at the mauvaise honte of the strangers, who have any scruples about joining so sociable a party."
p.642 Aguascalientes. "The Marquesa, a sister of Madame de Regla’s, with all the beauty, and all the cleverness, for which the family, on the mother’s side, is celebrated, was earnest in her solicitations to prolong our stay."
p.690 His children hadn’t suffered on their travels. "The eldest little girl, a sad invalid when we quitted the Capital, recovered her health and her strength while away; [...] the youngest [...] was so fortified by living constantly in the open air, that her fat and rosy cheeks were the admiration of all beholders."
p.705 "To add to our embarrassments", Mrs Ward gave birth on the return voyage to England, 10 days before arrival in Portsmouth.
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