Capture of Matamoras. Matamoras was filled, but General Taylor was too well versed in Mexican cunning to be cajoled. He stated that he had offered an armistice a month before, which Ampudia had declined; that he had neither invited nor provoked hostilities, but that he would not now suspend them while he was receiving large reinforcements; that the possession of Matamoras was now necessary to his troops, but that the Mexican army might retire, leaving behind them public property of every description. The Mexican General Reguena promised to return with an answer at three o'clock but failed to keep his word; time of his mission and the interval allowed for his answer, being employed by Arista in throwing the public stores into the river, burying artillery in wells, and concealing other portions of the public property in and about the city. In the evening, General Taylor, finding that no answer had been returned, finished his preparations for crossing early in the morning, while Arista retreated from the city, taking with him two pieces of artillery and four thousand men, and leaving behind his sick and wounded. ; the On the morning of the 18th Captain Bliss had an interview with the prefect of the town, and demanded its surrender, and all the public stores therein. The prefect replied to the demand "that General Taylor could march his troops into the town at any time that might suit his convenience." While this conversation was going on, Colonel Twiggs was crossing with his troops above the town, his band playing "Yankee Doodle." The other troops crossed at Matamoras, and the star-spangled banner speedily waved over the walls of Fort Paredes. Description of Matamoras. The best description of the taking of Matamoras that has yet appeared is given in the following sketch, by an officer of the army, who like many of the gallant warriors now in Mexico, wields a pen with no less ability than he wears his sword. He says, "We reached this point on the 25th of May. The country through which we passed was lovely in the extreme-being as level as a ball-room floor, and full of little chaparrals and muskeet groves. Our road, though not exactly following the meanderings of the river, touched its banks often enough to obtain water every mile or two. The citizens were friendly to us, and showed little displeasure at the invasion. In fact, some of them expressed their wish that the country should be governed by Americans or some other people, that would guaranty them a liberal or stable government, so much had they been annoyed by the internal convulsions of their own. At every house we found three or four men, which induced me to believe that the press-gang had met with very poor success among them. They say that it is not their disposition to play the soldier at any time, particularly the present, and when the call is made for troops they leave their homes in possession of the women, and find business in the chaparral. They are a happy, simple people, whose aim seems to be to make provision for to-day, leaving to-morrow to look out for itself. All along the road they were found waiting with milk, a sort of bread, which they call tortillias, cheese, poloncas, or maple sugar, and a sort of liquor resembling, in looks and taste, San Croix rum. We paid them liberally for all we obtained, which to them must have presented a strong contrast to the Mexican soldiery, who spread dismay and devasta Description of Matamoras. tion among their own people wherever they go. It seems to have been the desire of every man in our ranks to make the line of disparity between the American and Mexican soldier as palpable as possible; and the good effect of such conduct, if not immediately developed, will in the course of time be more apparent. Our march was very heavy, particularly during the day we left the Baritas, and some of our young men were very much used up. Two from company A were so much affected by the scorching sun as to be unable to proceed farther, and stopped at the house of a Mexican, where they received the utmost kindness and attention during the night, and were furnished with horses in the morning to catch up with us. It was about ten o'clock in the morning when we reached the town of Matamoras, though its white buildings, so different from those we had passed on the route, had attracted the eyes long before that time. There was something far more attractive to the eye than the white buildings of the town-something to awaken a thrill of pleasure in the breasts of the whole regiment—the stripes and stars were majestically floating in the breeze from the highest point in Matamoras, and between the river and the town hundreds and hundreds of white tents were pitched in such admirable order as to induce the beholder to think it a great town. As we entered the town at the east end, thousands of people sallied out of their houses to look upon us, whose looks more bespoke a welcome to their own army than to that of the invaders. At many a half-opened door or window was to be seen the head of a senora, whose timidity or modesty (albeit they allow so little to the Description of Matamoras. From this style Mexicans) forbade their emerging into the streets. Some of these women are indeed beautiful, though a great majority are indolent, slovenly, and destitute of that female delicacy which characterizes our own women. Their common dress is a white muslin skirt, tied quite loosely around the body, without any bodice; their chemise being the only covering for their breasts, in which they wear their jewelry and cross. I did not see one pair of stockings in all the town. of dressing you will infer that pride of dress gives way to comfort and ease, and that, too, in a greater degree than I think the largest liberty would warrant them indulging in. I went into a house yesterday evening, occupied by an old man and two daughters, both speaking a sufficiency of English to be understood. After being seated for a few moments, the eldest of the daughters went to the bed and brought to me a lovely and interesting child, as white almost as any of our own people. She informed me that she was married about two years ago to a Texan prisoner, and that he had been killed whilst fighting under General Taylor. She spoke in the highest terms of her deceased lord, and seemed to worship his image in the child. She is a lovely creature, and, I think, deeply devoted to our cause. Matamoras is a much handsomer place than I expected to find it. It covers two miles square, though by no means as compact as an American city-every house except those around the public square, has a large garden attached. The houses in the business part of the town are built after the American fashion, though seldom exceeding two stories in height. All the windows to these buildings are grated from top to bottom with iron bars, Description of Matamoras. and half of the door only opens for admittance, which gives them the appearance of prisons more than business houses. The public square is in the centre of the town, and must have been laid off by an American or European, for the Mexicans never could have laid it out with such beauty and precision. On the four sides of the square, the houses are built close together, as in block, and are of the same size and height, with the exception of the cathedral, which, though unfinished, still towers above the others. In these houses are sold dry goods, groceries, and every kind of wares, with now and then an exchange or coffee-house. They are principally occupied by Europeans, and you can hear French, English, Spanish, and German spoken at the same time. After leaving the public square on either side, the houses decrease in size and beauty for two or three squares, when the small reed and thatched huts commence, and continue to the extreme limits of the place. In walking through the streets, my attention was attracted to a house, in the door of which stood, or leaned, two half-naked Mexicans, so wobegone as to cause me to halt. On my nearing the door, a most disagreeable stench almost induced me to recede. I mustered courage to enter the door. On the floor, lying upon mats, without covering, were near fifty Mexicans, wounded in the late engagements, attended by some ten or twelve women. The smell of the place was insufferable, and I had to leave it. The next door was the same, and so on for about twenty houses. A friend of mine called my attention to a room in which there were at least forty of these miserable objects, and this room was scarcely twelve feet square. There was not positively room for the nurses |