Page:The Overland Monthly, volume 1, issue 1.djvu/15

 plaza, and the calle de los Plateros, one of the chief fashionable promenades, one might see in half an hour a bewildering contrast of uniforms, passing and repassing—now a group of officers of the Chasseurs d'Afrique in red and blue, mounted on genuine Arabian horses groomed to perfection and prancing under the light weight of the riders. These French cavalrymen, however, presented a sorry contrast in horsemanship to the graceful riding of the Mexicans, with their resplendent saddles and trappings. This variety of colors was particularly striking on Sundays, at the celebration of military mass at the Cathedral—the largest building on the Western continent—where several thousands of military and citizens stood upon its pavement.

The new order of affairs in the capital did not lessen the public taste for amusement. Of four theaters, the principal were the Imperial and Iturbide. The former was par excellence the theater of Mexico, and as its name would indicate, enjoyed exclusively the patronage of their majesties. Here the Italian and French operas held full sway two or three months during the winter. The Imperial box faced the stage, and was elegantly decorated with mirrors, crimson velvet, gilded columns and coats of arms. When the Imperial couple entered their box, which however was seldom, (and never after intelligence of the death of the King of Belgium reached Mexico) the entire audience rose and remained standing until royalty was seated. This was by no means exacted, but was the spontaneous tribute of a people who appreciated the character and disposition of the young couple, against whom there was never harbored the hatred manifested towards Bazaine and his insolent Frencn officials. The Emperor moreover was a liberal patron of the opera, which he generously subsidized during its stay in Mexico.

On occasions honored by the presence of Maximilian and Carlotta, the elite and fashion and the heiresses to the great fortunes of Mexico shone out in all the splendor of magnificent silks and priceless diamonds. The building was packed with representatives of the wealth and elegance of Mexico's capital. The boxes at the Imperial were taken for the season; the most desirable and highest priced having been those nearest the Empress. Each box had an elegant retiring or lounging room, where, between the acts, ices were served, (the ice being brought from the frozen summit of Ystaccihuatl) and the ladies changed their dresses—coming out, from first to last, in about as many varieties of plumage as the prima donna herself.

The Imperial is somewhat larger than Niblo's in New York, and will seat upwards of three thousand persons. It is built entirely of stone, and tastefully ornamented with paintings, frescoes, marbles, and basso relievo in bronze. The building is of great extent, admitting of a spacious entrance vestibule and smoking hall, where the critics promenade, smoke and chat between acts, and a stage of very grand proportions. In carnival time the parquette floor was elevated by machinery to a level with the stage, and then fashionable and gay Mexico let herself loose for the while and joined in the delirious whirl of masquerade dance. Until now, these had been a sort of a half-way affair in Mexico; but the graceful waltzers among the German officers, and the frantic devotees to the Terpsichorean art among the French, soon established the masquerade in all its glory in the Aztec capital. The coup d'eil in the Imperial opera house on a grand occasion, especially when the European troupe, with its constellation of stars were giving Italian opera, was dazzling—something memorable in fact. Perhaps no other theatre in the world could present so many noteworthy and exciting features—interesting from the nature of the events