and by the paths which are soon lost to view between a double hedge of daturas, honey-suckles, and jasmines.
When evening has come a shade falls upon the land scape, but the veil is so transparent that it softens its contour without effacing it. Even the night at Jalapa is quite as beautiful as the day. It is then that life begins to stir in the town. The ground-floor is, in all houses in hot countries, the place of rendezvous for the family and friends. It is in the evening at Jalapa, and at several other towns in Mexico, that the stranger can obtain the best insight into the domestic life and manners of the inhabitants. Every open window then sends forth a welcome ray of light into the dark and silent street, and the traveler can not but hear the joyous merriment that is going on within. In the warm nights of this beautiful climate the stranger can thus share in these fêtes every evening; he can see the Jalapeñas[1] display their charming vivacity without affectation, from the first moment that the fête commences till the flowers in their head-dresses wither, the harp ceases to be heard, and the windows are closed behind their iron bars.
It is always with regret that you leave this charming, warm valley, whether you are going to Mexico through the icy fogs of the frigid zone, or to Vera Cruz through the stifling and unbearable heat of the country between Jalapa and that city. I had deferred my departure from day to day, and two weeks had almost rolled away like a dream since that evening when, permitting the silver convoy to go on in advance after the death of Don Blas, I had entered Jalapa alone.
- ↑ The women of Jalapa are renowned throughout the whole republic for their beauty and grace, and their taste in fêtes, music, and flowers is unrivaled.
