Chapter XX: Vera Cruz

The State of Vera Cruz is one of the important states of the republic. The climate has a range of temperature that rises from cool and bracing to hot and stifling. It is pre-eminently agricultural and with the exception of rich fields of mineral oil, and cattle-raising, which is a lucrative source of revenue, the chief products of this fertile State are coffee, bananas, sugar, vanilla and cotton. In the northwest is the Huasteca region, the finest cattle lands on the continent, and in the southwest, the Sotavente district is rich in agricultural soil and watered by the mighty Paploapam.

The southern part of the State is open to colonization and there are many foreign enterprises engaged in the principal industry of sugar making.

The State is very liberal and progressive and under the administration of the present Governor, Señor Don Teodora Dehesa, port-works, water-works and sewers, drainage, public buildings and many other advanced ideas of reform have been inaugurated.

The Federal Quarantine Station at Vera Cruz has been declared by health experts as the most complete and thorough in existence. It can be now recorded that the entire absence of yellow fever is assured. Vera Cruz now enjoys the distinction of being the cleanest city in the republic.

The City of Vera Cruz was founded in 1519, by Hernando Cortés. It was at one time the capital of the State, but Jalapa is now the seat of the government. It was built in a semi-circle fronting the sea, and was formerly enclosed by a wall six feet high and three feet thick and defended by two redoubts on shore and by the Castle of San Juan de Ulua which stands on an island. The streets are regular and wide and form many squares, and little plazas or parks, beautiful in rich tropical flowers and trees which make the city very attractive. The houses are strongly built of coral limestone in the old Spanish style. It is an ideal spot for the traveler who enjoys a warm climate and beautiful sun. Old churches, public buildings bearing the marks of centuries, old convents that have stood the test of time, and beautiful modern buildings are found side by side in sublime contrast. The Municipal Palace was built in 1609, and the Public Library, in which are wonderful old volumes and archives, was founded in 1870. There are several beautiful churches, theatres, hospitals, an artillery school, and a new post office.

The lately constructed port-works have converted the ancient rockbound roadstead along the Atlantic coast line into a safe and commodious harbor. The protected harbor covers fifty-four acres. The length of the breakwater is three thousand three hundred and thirty metres.

The present city of Vera Cruz is not the same that was built by Cortés in the year 1519. The Villa Rica de Vera Cruz--“the rich town of the true cross”--is six miles distant from the present city. The inhabitants of this busy city are renowned for their culture, their frank and simple manners and their patriotism, of which they have given many proofs in the various sieges which the town has sustained against foreign foes, thus justifying the appellation of “heroic” given to it.

Nowhere in Mexico is there a more beautiful spot than the City of Jalapa. When the atmosphere is clear, one can see the shipping in the harbor of Vera Cruz with an ordinary spy glass and the white caps of the waves with the naked eye. The elevation of Jalapa above the sea is a little more than four thousand feet. It is situated on a shelf of the mountain, the summit of which at Perote, a distance in a direct line of about twenty miles, is four thousand five hundred feet higher than Jalapa. The whole horizon, except in the direction of Vera Cruz, is bounded by mountains--among them Orizaba, distant from Jalapa about twenty-five miles, though owing to the clearness of the atmosphere and the sun shining upon the snow with which it is covered it appears to be much nearer. All the tropical fruits grow in the district, and are cultivated with great care and skill. It is not an exaggeration to say that it is impossible for one who has not been on the tableland of Mexico to conceive of a climate so elysian.

Jalapa is indeed a rare old place. It seems to be built on edge, with streets like stairs climbing the hills, while terraced houses cling to the hillsides.

Orizaba lies about midway between the two extremes of the coast and the plateau. It is one of the busiest manufacturing towns of Mexico. It is on the line of the oldest railway in the country, within easy access of the interior cities.

The town of Coatzacoalcos is at the mouth of the river of the same name, and is one of the few places that look like an American town. It is growing rapidly and has the second finest port-works on the continent.

On the Mexican Railroad, Cordoba, nestling under the shadow of the snow-capped peak of Orizaba is a tropical refuge for many travelers seeking sunshine. Fruits, flowers, palms and ferns grow in abundance. In this tropical part of Mexico one finds many beautiful pictures that would look almost unreal if painted on canvas.

The red-brown coloring of the Indians in their costumes and the half-naked children basking in the sun or enjoying the shade of the verdant palms, and the perfume of the flowers that permeates the atmosphere almost transport one with enthusiasm and enjoyment.

In Cordoba grows the finest coffee in the world. The loveliest scene on Nature’s canvas is a coffee plantation. The leaves of the plant are a very dark green, the flowers white and freighted with a rich aromatic incense, and the berries are deep red. This bean is cultivated with great care. The shrub is graceful and drooping and the flower is as sweet as the orange blossom.

The State of Vera Cruz is rapidly gaining fame for the variety, beauty and sublimity of its scenic attractions.

The Castle of San Juan de Ulua, which was the last foothold of the Spaniards in Mexico, was surrendered by them to the patriots in 1825. In 1838, Vera Cruz was bombarded and taken by the French and again in 1847, by the Americans, under General Scott. It was surrendered to the allied British, French and Spanish squadron in December, 1861, and was restored to Mexico in 1867.

The experience of three Mexican Revolutions makes it easier to conceive the extent to which this unfortunate city must have suffered in the struggle made by the Spaniards to preserve the Castle, their last bulwark on this continent. San Juan de Ulua remains a lasting memorial of the great works which, almost immediately after their arrival on these shores, were undertaken by the Spanish conquerors.