Page:Life in Mexico vol 2.djvu/431

Rh of the stars above, or the snakes below. It was not till after our arrival at Tampico that I had the mortification to discover that the interesting creature, the charming recluse, is seventy-eight, and has just buried her seventh husband! I accept the account doubtingly, but henceforth shall endeavor to picture her to my mind as an ancient enchantress, dwelling amongst serpents, and making her venomous charms of

As you approach Tampico, the first houses that meet the eye, have the effect of a number of colored band-boxes; some blue, some white, which a party of tired milliners have laid down amongst the rushes. On leaving the boat, and walking through the town, though there are some solid stone dwellings, I could have fancied myself in a New England village. Neat "shingle palaces," with piazzas and pillars; nothing Spanish, and upon the whole, an air of cleanness and cheerfulness astonishing to me who had fancied Tampico an earthly purgatory. We afterwards heard that these houses were actually made in the United States and sent out here. There are some good-looking stores; and though there is certainly little uniformity in the architecture of the houses, yet considering that the city was built only sixteen years ago, I consider it a slandered place. In 1825, there were but a few Indian huts here, and any little commerce there was, concentrated itself in Pueblo Viejo, which stands on the shores of a lake,