CASTLES OF CALLAO. 15 north and south castles, has begun to present the appearance of a populous town. The castles themselves, as before remarked, have been dismantled, and are now fast falling into decay; in which respects they resemble other expensive structures of the same kind erected by the Spaniards for the security of their colonies, and in pursuance of that system of exclusive and jealous monopoly of their commerce which led to the almost total prevention of intercourse with any other than the mother country; a system which established a forced trade by adventurous smugglers from the interdicted nations, among which our own was somewhat notorious. This illicit trade, connived at by the authorities, laid the foundation of many a tale of fiction, as well as some solid fortunes. Taking into consideration the expense of keeping these extensive castles in a state of repair, and how constantly they caused revolutions in the republic of Peru, it is doubtless a blessing to the people and country that they have been suffered to fall into decay. It is indisputable that they are master-pieces of the art of fortification. Commanding the harbor and its entrances, and situated on a low point—extending far into the sea-they moreover command the road to Lima on the land side, and the wide plain between it and Callao, as far as the guns can carry, so that the possessor of the castles can interdict communication for every warlike purpose between the city and the place of embarkation. In the frequent emeutes, dignified by the name of revolutions, it was always a great point to seize the castles by gaining over the garrison; and this fine fortress, which witnessed the intrepid and obstinate defence of a Rodil, continued through several years against a vastly superior besieging and blockading force, and until he had been reduced almost to starvation, has since been sometimes taken by a coup-demain, by a half-starved ensign at the head of a scare-crow sergeant's guard. Nothing more impressively demonstrates the ephemeral 16 SPANISH FORTIFICATIONS. duration of empires, and of systems destined by their haughty authors to be perpetual, than such ruins as these. They abound in all the Spanish-American colonies, which were at once the source of the wealth and of the downfall of the mother-country. The Moro Castles of Havana and of St. Iago, the noble castle of San Juan de Ulloa, and the extensive and imposing fortifications of St. Johns of Porto Rico, are all more or less neglected and decaying. But more prominent than all, is the stupendous fortification of "Cartagena de los Indias," which is a system of castles, triple-walls, and bulwarks of every description, in which ingenuity is stretched to the utmost in devising plans for defence, fort rising above fort, castle surmounting castle, from the bosom of the ocean in which the foundations are laid to the battlemented heights in the rear. From these towering battlements once proudly flaunted the gorgeous red and yellow stripes with the crown and shield of Castile and Leon, announcing the dominion of his Most Catholic Majesty, Rey de España y los Indias" in this his principal depôt of treasure, sent from all other parts of South America to be freighted in the galleons to Cadiz. Of these fortifications, the king of Spain remarked, that they must have been built of silver, so many millions did they cost him. But now— "Alack! and what shall good old York there see Alas for Carthagena of the Indies! What is she now? A broken and miserable sea-port of the "Costa Firme," of little commerce, and small consideration; while her mother, in old Spain, with her spacious but deserted quays, her noble but neglected royal arsenal, and the infrequent feluccas lying at her desolate wharves, presented, when I was there, a sad and startling counterpart. And it has been my fortune also to see the shapeless remains of the THE THREE CARTHAGES. 17 once mighty ancestress of the Spanish Carthagenas. I have stood on the site of that Carthage, made illustrious by the great deeds of Hamilcar, Asdrubal, and Hannibal—of that Carthage over whose ruins the blood-thirsty and fugitive Marius brooded-of that Carthage, victorious on land and sea, which was once the terror and the scourge of Romeof that Carthage, twice subjugated in the Punic wars by the Scipios. But the Carthage of Africa-the Carthage of Queen Dido-is no more! A few wretched huts occupy the places of her citadels and temples; a miserable vagabond race are unenvied masters of the classic soil, once trodden by the most famous heroes of antiquity; and it would seem that destiny has written the sentence of Cato upon the very name, wherever found-" Delenda est Carthago!" The Carthagena of Murcia, founded by Asdrubal, whose mines of silver sustained Hannibal against the serried hosts of Rome, is falling into decay; whilst her once opulent namesake in the new world is thus early almost forgotten. Let him who would study the romance and the philosophy of history read the story of the African, the Spanish, and the American Carthage— "The boast of heraldry, the pomp of power, And all that beauty, all that wealth ere gave, The paths of glory lead but to the grave!" We spent New-Year's day at sea, running before a fine trade westerly. The S. E. trade-winds blow, as a general rule, on the west coast of South America, from 35 deg. of south latitude to the equator, and extend west as far as 100 deg. west longitude. North of the line, and near the coast, the N. E. trades blow, although not so steadily as the forIn the tropics, easterly winds generally prevail; and on the coast of North America, in Oregon and California, N. W. winds prevail; while on the coast of Mexico, southers, with an occasional gale, accompanied with almost mer. 18 CLIMATE OF THE PACIFIC. constant showers, are usual in the summer season. Farther west, in the Sandwich Islands and other groups, the N. E. trade blows constantly. Gales of wind are of very rare occurrence. The climate of the whole Pacific is mild and pleasant, and the voyager in that "summer sea" is seldom or never chilled by the almost universal damps, dews, and disagreeables of the ungenial Atlantic. CHAPTER II. Mazatlan, its Inhabitants and Revolutions-The Harbor-Rollers and Worms-Monterey-The Junta-General Vallejo-Jose Castro-Anchorage of Monterey. We found the commodore at Mazatlan with a squadron, consisting of two first-class frigates and three sloops of war, which composed our entire force in this important sea, on the eve of a war which, at the outset, threatened to embroil us with the first naval power in the world. On the other hand, that power had on the station the Admiral's Flag ship, the Collinwood, of 80 guns, the America razee, of 60 guns, and four sloops of war, besides two splendid war steamers, which would have proved an important adjunct, perhaps a fatal one for us, in case of a collision. We not only had no war steamers in this ocean, so well adapted to that class of vessels, but none were expected, nor did any arrive in the course of the war which ensued. This looks very much as if there had been an understanding concerning Mexican affairs between the Cabinets of St. James' and Washington, although the Mexicans were led to think very differently. Since the royal administration of affairs in Mexico, Acapulco and San Blas have silently fallen into decay, and Mazatlan, although destitute of a good or safe harbor, has become the most important commercial town possessed by Mexico on the Pacific. This is owing to the facility of communication with the northern provinces and the mining |