pered confession and the muttered absolution; the tonsured priest and the besotted people, have disappeared for ever; and ruin with its inexorable grasp has given walls and arches, corridors and columns, to the wild flowers for their dominion, and to the birds of heaven for their revels.

The cavalcade entered the town with guidons flying, and the band playing "Hail Columbia." The doors and windows were planted thickly with the inhabitants, eager to see the invading "barbarians of the North." By the time we reached the plaza, the whole place was in motion, and every house had disgorged its occupants. The children were most conspicuous in numbers, and not least striking from their apparel-or the want of it. The Indian mother, nurtured only in the school of nature, gives to her child a girdle about the middle: the Mexicans, inheritors of Spanish civilization and refinement, dispense with so superfluous a garment. The Colonel presented to the Alcalde a letter from General Wool, whereupon, as Gil Blas says, were many compliments on both sides. The official was as condescending and affectionate as a stump candidate three weeks before the election, and, notwithstanding we were all on horseback, passed round most graciously, careful to omit none, shaking every one's hand and, leading us to infer that if we had been on foot, we should have had still more touching evidence of his esteem.

The buildings are generally of a similar character to those of San Antonio, many of which, of the better looking class, were deserted; the inhabitants who had the means apparently thinking it preferable to leave their homes, rather than see them desecrated by the presence of a military rabble, judging our troops by the character of their own. None of the houses have wooden floors: the arrangements for light in those of most pretensions, are gratings rising from a broad sill projecting a foot or two from the walls, the bars of which are elaborately carved or turned. These window recesses are also useful to the young ladies in another way; as the bewitching señoritas may frequently be seen there in the cool of the day, puffing their cigarritas, and ogling the passers by. Many of the doors are rudely ornamented with men's heads, the figures of animals, &c., intended to resemble perhaps, as near as any thing else, the ancient gods of the Aztecs. I observed, as at San Antonio, that the chief occupation of the women within doors, consists in looking the heads, or taking the census per capita, of their children, and of each other.

The problem of the existence of the Mexican people, as illustrated in those of the Presidio de Rio Grande, is of no simple solution. Food and clothing are universal necessities of mankind, to which this portion of the human family is no exception; but while they are in possession of both, the mystery is, whence they are procured. There are no indications of mechanical industry-I saw but one approach to it in the case of a man who was mending a woman's shoe-there are no workshops and no stores; no gardens and no fields: idleness and indolence are every where lords of the ascendant. There was one place of general resort, and it appears to be common to all latitudes and to every people it was the village grog shop. Muscal, or Mexican whiskey, distilled from a wild plant indigenous to the country, forms the staple article of this establishment, though nuts, rice, sugar. &c., are kept in small quantities. Sweet potatoes were also disposed of here at a picayune a pound. In the distillation of their alcoholic products however, it must be acknowledged that the Mexican people act with more wisdom than ourselves, and that in one thing at least, we may derive from them a wholesome example. They do not make the staff of life its destroyer, and so abuse an inestimable blessing that it becomes a withering and deadly curse. No: instead of perverting what may be called pre-eminently the great North American plant, which Providence has given for man's subsistence, to the uses of evil habits, the production of vice and misery, and the degradation and prostitution of humanity, they apply it to its legitimate ends, and gratify their depraved appetites by extracting their intoxicating drinks from the more natural source of a wild plant of the prairies. What little labor is rendered by the people, is chiefly agricultural, and a fertile soil and genial climate, doubtless yield at a trifling cost rich returns to the toil of the cultivator. The habits, manners, and costume of the people, are simple in the extreme, and a small infusion of Anglo-Saxon energy, could it possibly be effected, might perhaps be followed by a corresponding infusion of Anglo-Saxon intelligence and prosperity. So much would certainly be gained in purity of morals, government, and religion, that a revolution of this sort ought to be encouraged by every Mexican who loves his country. Every philanthropist must desire that the present indolent effeminacy may soon cease to exist, and that the energies of a people who may boast of the "Great Admiral," the "Great

Captain," Cortez, Alvarado, and a host of other illustrious names, may once more be quickened into life. And though they have known us only as enemies, let us hope now that peace is restored, they may take an example from us in activity, in industry, in enterprise, and resolve to elevate their country to the position which Providence has assigned it, and to leave our vices-if any they have observed-to moulder in the grave in which their own ignorance and lethargy would then be buried. Then indeed would Mexico be worthy of her ancient renown; and though she might not attain to the pre-eminent position which she held in the days of Aztec splendor and power, towards the other nations of America, she would be able to engage in honorable rivalry with the Republic of the North, in advancing the common wealth and common intelligence of nations; in the prosecution of the arts and the cultivation of science; in rendering the whole people industrious and intelligent; in contributing to the universal amelioration of mankind, by securing with a panoply of law, virtue and true religion, the person and property of every individual.

The Rio Grande at the ford, is by calculation two hundred and seventy-two yards wide; the current rapid, and the bottom hard. The water is much like that of the Missouri, and after filtration is probably quite as good. A substitute for this operation is furnished by the prickly pear, which, stripped of its skin, and deposited in the vessel of water, very soon precipitates the earthy matter. It is perhaps the only known application of the plant-except the torture.

The dragoon who so mysteriously vanished after disposing of the Alcalde, turned up the next day and exhibited no signs of having passed the night under water. He was only classifying and qualifying himself as an old soldier; and being on guard, very sagely concluded, that a night in the chaparral was preferable to one on post.

One of the Arkansas volunteers died just after reaching the Rio Grande, and on observing a man carrying a barrel on his shoulder to their late camp, I was told on inquiry, it was for a coffin,—that_no other material was to be had, and that his comrades were about to inclose a portion of his form thus, rather than leave it to the cold embraces of the earth. Poor fellow! he doubtless left home, like the most of us, with high anticipations and chivalric hopes; joyfully enrolling himself among those who were going forth to

fight the battles of their country, and perhaps with honorable aspirations after a distinction that might survive him. He arrives in sight of the soil of the enemy, but his foot is not permitted to touch it. Death strikes him at the very threshold. The tender cares and sacred affections of a mother or a sister are not present to hallow or to soothe his dying hours; but stretched upon a blanket, on the bosom of the cold earth, to which the body must so soon return, he yields up his last breath among his comrades, and his "spirit to Him who gave it." Then, indeed, the martial mockery of a military funeral does honor to his remains: music, in melancholy and mournful strains, precedes him to the grave, and volleys of musketry eloquently tell of a country's gratitude, and the Republic's respect for her patriotic defenders. The clods of earth fall coldly -not upon his coffin, for that his country denies him-but upon the pittance of protection which his comrades have procured for his mortal remains; the grave closes,. the procession returns with the gayest music, and the soldier is forgotten. On the wild and solitary banks of the Rio Grande, in a grave perhaps unsanctified by one tear of affection, and unhallowed by the rites of Christian burial, he sleeps the sleep that knows no waking.

On the 11th of October, at eleven o'clock, the main body crossed the river. At the right bank we found Captain Morgan and his company, of the 1st regiment, stripped to their shirts and drawers, engaged in getting a wagon out of the river, which the mules had not been able to extricate. They had blocked up the point of exit from the stream, and those in the rear therefore were compelled to await their movements. The Captain in his red flannel seemed to waive all considerations of rank, and was in the midst of his company, setting the right sort of an example, and making himself not only ornamental but useful. On ascending the bank, in the midst of dragoons and infantry, teamsters and baggage wagons, a dozen or more Mexican carts were discovered, loaded with sugar-cane, chickens, sweet potatoes, corn and wheat bread, a variety of which was very like the " ginger cake" bought and sold by the boys at 66 general training." The latter was decidedly the most popular purchase-partly, perhaps, because it could be eaten on the ground, and partly on account of early associations. While the larger portion of us were engaged in the vigorous mastication of the various viands before us, we observed our gallant commander, seated in a small skiff,

towed by a horse, making his entrance into Mexico. Not many minutes after his arrival, he was met by a Mexican Teniente (Lieutenant) with an escort of two men, who brought a complete copy of the articles of capitulation at Monterey, with a letter from a Mexican colonel.

The General soon put himself at the head of the battery, the dragoons being in front, and with the military ambassador in his immediate vicinity, and the cavalcade enveloped in impenetrable clouds of dust, advanced towards the Presidio. It was nearly one o'clock when the party left the river, and the green tops of the lofty pecan trees of the town became visible in a little less than two hours.

Just before entering the principal street, we passed on our right a large reservoir, formed by a high embankment or dam across a small stream that winds around the place, from which the irrigating canals radiate over the surrounding region. Above the gate or sluice-way, there is a conspicuous wooden cross, which, with an inscription below, indicates the usual tincture of priestcraft and superstition. On the southern side of the town, at the extremity of a street leading to the plaza, stands a small stone building, evidently constructed for defence, to which is attached a castellated tower. The position is an important one, and would permit an effective fire in almost every direction.

The residence of Miguel Arsiniega, Gefe Politico, the Political Chief of Department and commonly known as the Alcalde, to which the column proceeded, is a one story building of stone or adobe, in the form of a hollow square, with an interior court of twelve or fifteen hundred square feet. Availing myself of the broad shoulders of I was permitted to enter with the crowd. The rooms are spacious and airy. On being ushered into the parlor, the carpet of which was of good hard Mexican clay, we met the Alcalde, clad in a white, homespun frock coat, decorated with immense black buttons, his nether proportions encased in similar material, but of variegated hues; his wife, a not ill-looking, buxom specimen of her sex, and several younger females, whom we presumed to be her daughters. One of them-a youthful mother-was yielding from the lacteal fountains that nourishment of a maternal nature which comes from no other source, and which the baby in her arms was extracting with as much vigor as might have been looked for in one east of the Sabine.

The furniture of the room consisted of a high-post bedstead, embellished with a

gay, checkered quilt; three or four wooden benches, like those found in a back-woods meeting-house in Georgia; a looking-glass, nine by fourteen inches; a rude table, upon which writing materials were spread alongside of one of Mr. Fenimore Cooper's novels; a wooden image of Christ on the cross, and a picture of the pope or some other respectable gentleman, which might very well be taken for the man of sin." There was also a stone or earthen jug standing in the window-sill, from which we supplied ourselves with water out of a broken tumbler. The interview lasted but a short time; the object of it was apparently not very clearly comprehended, even when we rose to depart. The General gave each of the ladies a very affectionate squeeze of the hand, and the less favored members of the party bowed themselves out of the room.

As we were leaving, we observed in the court a remarkable looking man, oblivious of all things going on around him, walking to and fro, with a wisdom-giving pair of spectacles astride his nose, and an ancient volume in his hands, with numerous leaves turned down, and slips of paper inserted, to mark the places. He was without coat or hat. His gray hair was cropped short" enough to excite the admiration. of a writer of army regulations, and in his round, rubicund face, there twinkled two cunning little eyes, above which hung a pair of brows in overshadowing humility. He proved to be the priest of the village, conning over his paternosters, and so. laboriously, that it appeared to be an act of self-imposed penance. Notwithstanding the gravity of his appearance, and his very clerical austerity of demeanor, it is said he is decidedly a jovial companion, and for this reason likes San Fernando, his previous parish, much better than the Presidio. He states that there were in the former place a few worthy and congenial associates, with whom he could play a game of cards or take a social glass without scandal upon his profession, but he adds-with perhaps not so much truth -that here such innocent enjoyments are loooked upon with great horror. Some who were disposed to sympathize with him in his unaccustomed privations, invited him to camp, where he would be permitted to indulge his animal propensities to "the top of his bent." From him we learned that the old "Mission "" was erected early in the eighteenth century, and had been abandoned for nearly fifty years.

After leaving this pious father to his pages, his penance, and his paternosters, we continued our route through the town

were filled with spectators, gazing at the unusual exhibition; pigs and poultry were picking up corn, with the naked children on the floors and in the streets, and the usual process of gathering in the harvest of the hair, was going on industriously among the women. These were generally dressed with less regard to neatness and display, than when Colonel Harney arrived, on which occasion the newest calicoes seem to have been in requisition. The females to-day were, in most cases, reduced to the last layer of drapery, while from the waists of a few, there hung a petticoat in addition.

About a mile from town, it became necessary to cross one of the irrigating ditches, over which the Mexicans had constructed a rude but practicable bridge. We found, however, on our arrival that the genius of had been moved

as usual, to leave the impress of his mind and power, upon the stumps and logs before him, and he was actively engaged as the chief pioneer. From almost the commencement of the march, he had become the absorbent, whenever the opportunity offered, of all the operations. Snatching from the commanding general his commission, from the engineer his compass, from the quarter-master his responsibility, from the adjutant-general his pen, from the ordnance officer his powder, from the wagon master his whip, from the surgeon his lancet, from the teamster his reins, and from the pioneer his pickaxe and shovel, he appropriated to himself the functions of the whole-a self-constituted itinerant military pantheon. If Leonidas could have had three hundred such, the story of Thermopyla would have a different conclusion.

The encampment was upon an open prairie, with mezquit trees scattered in clustered coruscations, and with a sprinkling of the prickly pear, and a new variety of the chaparral, more thorny if possible than any of its predecessors. The water was of a rich sulphurous taste and odor, and might well lay claim to medicinal virtues. It was nearly dark before we completed the pitching of our tents, and night, with a thick garniture of clouds, fell long before we received our suppers.

On Friday morning we had something like an April shower; which was followed by a regular, sober, steady, energetic rain, combining the power of the storm with the pertinacity of the drizzle. It proved, however, no obstacle to the out-door efforts of the Mexicans, who swarmed into camp to sell their figs, cakes, bread, potatoes,

&c. They seemed not at all disinclined to furnish supplies, according to the full extent of their abilities, and on reasonable terms. Indeed, they did not evince quite such a mercenary disposition, such a determined pertinacity for public plunder, as our friends in Texas. There a busheĺ of corn cost a dollar and fifty cents: here it could be bought for about half that

sum.

It was rumored that there was as much difficulty at head-quarters, in translating the communications received by the Teniente, as Tony Lumpkin once encountered in reading a certain "cramped piece of penmanship." The conclusion, however, arrived at by all the interpreters, as reported, was that the Mexican officer who wrote the letter, and who somewhat loftily signed himself "Francisco de Castañeda, Colonel, commanding the left wing of the Northern army," entertained the opinion that the articles of capitulation at Monterey, prohibited by implication General Wool from crossing the Rio Grande, and that such a movement would involve a violation of their spirit and intent. It is not known what reply the commanding general made; but we may infer that he informed Colonel Castañeda that he could construe those articles without Mexican assistance; that he had crossed the river, and that if the "Commander of the left wing of the Northern army" objected thereto, he might resort to such means as should seem proper to him, to put General Wool on the other side.

As the sun rose on the 13th, the flag of the United States rose upon the soil of Mexico: as the stars of heaven paled before the great luminary of the universe, the stars of the Republic waved above a foreign horizon. There may be something grand and poetical, perhaps, to a Frenchman, in the idea that the government thus symbolled forth, should be displayed at such an hour, saluted with the roar and blaze of gunpowder, and the virgin beams of the morning; but if there be a thought or association of power or protection with the flag, why should it not be unfurled by night as well as by day? According to Walter Scott, such was the practice with the Crusaders: why and when was it discontinued?

The morning was fair and charming; the air pure and bracing. Every inhalation seemed to give new vigor to the sys

tem.

The dew-drops sparkled on the grass, and hung like clusters of jewels from the branches of the chaparral. The birds had caught the inspiration of the hour, and made nature vocal with their

grateful and joyous melody. Not to trifle away in camp such opportunities for rational enjoyment, and such an invocation to a proper acknowledgment of the benevolence of the Creator, by a contemplation of His works, a party was made up for town. The road was alive with the industrious Mexicans of all sizes, bringing in the surplusage of their labors for sale. Boys with unripe melons, sweet potatoes, cigarritas, eggs, chickens, polonces (sugar in the form of truncated cones about the size of a common tumbler), preserved pumpkin, dried figs, looking and tasting like prunes, tortillas, tamales, &c., &c., and men with the more bulky and substantial products, were rushing into camp, to reap the harvest while it lasts.

Before arriving at the Presidio, alias San Juan de Bautista, alias Villa del Herriero; for the town is known by the three names, we met General Shields, with two or three officers, just from Camargo to join this column. We thus gathered many particulars of the great battle or rather battles of Monterey, of a victory to our arms which was purchased at the price of some of the best blood of the nation, and which carried grief, and sorrow, and lamentation, and brokenness of heart, to many a widowed wife and childless mother. The son, the husband, the lover, and the brother had fallen, and the glory of such a triumph is wrung from bitter tears and written in priceless blood. Numerous instances of the thrilling horrors of the scene were described, but there is none perhaps more affecting than the fate of Lieutenant of the Infantry.

According to report, he was wounded early in the action by a musket ball, and stretched almost lifeless upon the earth. In the heat and melée of the carnage, it was impossible to remove him from the field, and thus weak from loss of blood and suffering the most intense agony, he remained an entire day; balls hurtling through the air, and the rain falling in torrents nearly the whole time. Almost exhausted, he was an agonized spectator of the battle raging fiercely around him, and of the warring of the elements, rivalling that of man with man. When taken up, life was nearly extinct, and the affectionate efforts of his friends seemed only to prolong agony with which he had wrestled in vain.

The heart turns with horror from the contemplation of such details, and which, terrific and revolting as they are, are too often aggravated by the consideration that they arise from the mad ambition and petty policy of those who, secure in their VOL. III.-25

own positions, trifle with human life as they would amuse themselves with the balls of a billiard table. Yet these men we are told are "Christian Statesmen;" looking to divine law as their rule of action; professing to ask and to do nothing but what is right, while forgetting, yea trampling deliberately under foot, the edict which was thundered forth in such terrible sublimity from the throne of Omnipotence, "Thou shalt not kill."

The population of the Presidio is probably not far from two thousand; but the juvenile proportion is enormous, if not alarming. Nearly every house displays three or four naked boys and girls, at the doors and in the court yards, all apparently of the same age, as they are of the same size. It would appear from the fecundity here, that the population of Mexico must reduce itself elsewhere in a most mysterious way, if at present, as has been estimated, it does not amount to more than seven or eight millions. And whatever process they may have for curtailing numbers, a disciple of Malthus would be very apt to complain in the most deprecatory terms of the frightful consequences that must ensue from the masses of juvenility presented here, and would doubtless suggest remedies not entirely in accordance with the tastes and appetites of the people.

The jurisdiction of the Alcalde, or Prefect of the Presidio, extends over a department comprising six towns, in which he is the chief, if not the only civil officer. The precise nature of his duties and extent of his powers cannot be very accurately defined; but in addition to the function of judge and juror, he has the general supervision of the revenues, and is responsible within his department for the faithful execution of the laws, particularly those in reference to government dues. The truth is, there is very little of law in the country, except the forms, and these it may be feared will not long survive. The canon [query-cannon?] law really prevails over every other, and there is no functionary whose power is so unlimited as that of the priest.

At a short distance from the road, about half a mile this side of the town, are the ruins, or rather the remnants of the foundation of one of the earliest missions erected on the continent. It was known as the church of San Juan Bautista; and was built, it is supposed, in the latter part of the seventeenth century. Nothing remains at present but a shapeless pile of rubbish and stones. We were furnished here with another sad illustra