# Mexico, Aztec, Spanish and Republican/Volume 2/Book 5/Chapter 5

Table of Contents
CHAPTER V.
THE STATE OF MEXICO.
This State, which includes the national capital and the federal district, lies between 16° 34' and 21° 7' of north latitude and 100°, 17, '30" and 105°, 7', 30" W. longitude from Paris. It is bounded, west by the States of Guanajuato and Michoacan; south-west by the shores of the Pacific for 87 leagues; north by Queretaro; east by Puebla; and north-east by Vera Cruz. Its greatest breadth from east to west, from Chilapa on the boundaries of Puebla, to the haven of Zacatula, is, 104 leagues, and its extreme length from north to south, from Berdosas on the confines of Vera Cruz, to the west coast in the neighborhood of Acapulco and the boundary of Puebla in that direction, is, 124 leagues. The area of the State is 5,842 square leagues, more than two-thirds of which are covered with mountains and spurs of mountains, interspersed with vallies lying between 6,500 and 7,500 feet above the level of the sea. The Nevada de Toluca is the only mountain of extraordinary elevation in the State of Mexico, which breaks the uniformity of its lofty table lands. Popocatepetl and Iztaccihuatl, on the eastern limit of the Valley of Mexico, belong, it will be recollected, to the State of Puebla.
The political divisions consist of eight districts, with 38 partidos, or cantons, and 183 ayuntimientos or municipalities, subdivided into about 450 cities, towns and villages, as well as into a great number of haciendas, and minor dependencies.
1st. The district of Acapulco, with the cantons of Acapulco, Técpan. Chilapa, Tixtla, and 13 municipalities.
​2d. The district of Cuernavaca, with the cantons of Cuernavaca, Ciudad Morelos or Cuautla de Amilpas, and Xonatepec, and 17 municipalities.
3d. The district of Tasco, with the cantons of Tasco, Axuchitlan, Teloloapan, Texupilco, Sultepec, Temascaltepec, and Zacualpan, with 18 ayuntimientos or municipalities.
4th. The district of Toluca, with the cantons of Toluca, Ixtlahuaca, Tenango, Tenancingo, and 25 municipalities.
5th. The district of Tlalpam, with the cantons of Tlalpam, Chalco, Tezcoco, Teotihuacan, Zumpango, Tlanepantla, Qúautitlan and 49 municipalities.
6th. The district of Tula, with the cantons of Tula, Huichapan, Actopan, Xilotepec, Ixmiquilpan, Zimapan, and 25 municipalities.
7th. The district of Tulancingo, with the cantons of Tulancingo, Pachuca, Apam, and 15 municipalities.
8th. The district of Huejutla, with the cantons of Huejutla, Mextitlan, Zacualtipan, Yahualica, and 21 municipalities.
The population in these districts was estimated in 1842, according to Mühlenpfordt, at:
| 1st | District, | 101,250 |
| 2d | ” | 104,100 |
| 3d | ” | 187,444 |
| 4th | ” | 255,119 |
| 5th | ” | 278,800 |
| 6th | ” | 241,539 |
| 7th | ” | 128,166 |
| 8th | ” | 100,855 |
The call for congress in that year estimated the population of the State at 1,389,502, to which if we add 10 per cent, for increase since that period, we shall have a population at present of about 1,528,452.
The Federal District includes the city of Mexico, in the valley of that name, together with the towns and villages of Tacubaya, Chapultepec, Santa Fé, Tacuba, Guadalupe, Azcapotzalco, Los Reyes, St. Angel, Mixcoac, and Mexicalcingo. Its inhabitants may be estimated at 450,000,—about 200,000 of whom reside in the capital.
The Valley of Mexico is in the midst of the ridges of the Mexican Sierras, at a height of 7,500 feet above the level of the ocean. It is oval in shape, and hemmed in on all sides by porphyritic mountains and eminences, from which the volcanoes of Popocatepetl and JztaccihuatI, shoot up beyond the region of eternal snow.
​Its greatest length, from the mouth of the stream of Tenango in the lake of Chalco, to the foot of the Cerro de Sinóc, in the neighborhood of the canal Huehuetoca is 19½ leagues, and its greatest breadth, from San Gabriel at Tezcoco, to the sources of the river Acapusalco at Quisquiluca, is 13¼ leagues. Its area is 258 3/8 square leagues, 23 1/3 of which are covered by lakes. On the south, east, and west, the mountains maintain a probable average height of 10,000 feet above the sea, while at the north their depression is considerable, and through the gaps and vallies the waters of the lakes are discharged towards the Gulf of Mexico.
Six great highways centre in the capital, and leave it to traverse the principal districts of the confederacy.
1st. The road to Acapulco on the west coast, which passes out of the valley over its southern rim of mountains at the point known as the Cruz del Marquez, about 2,284 feet above the city of Mexico, or 9,784 above the level of the sea.
2d. The road to Toluca, by Tianguillo and Lerma.
3d, The road to Queretaro, Durango, &c. called El Camino de tierra adentro, which leads across the eminences at the north of the valley, by an elevation of about 100 feet only above the level of the lakes. This road is the highway for the internal trade of Mexico with the northern provinces.
4th. The road to Pachuca and Real del Monte in the mining district, across the Cerro Ventoso.
5th. The road to Puebla, across Bonaventura and the plains of Apam.
6th. The new road to Puebla and Vera Cruz, by Rio Frio and San Martin, across the northern shoulder of the volcano of Popocatepetl. It greatest elevation is at the barranca or ravine of Juanes, 10,486 feet above the level of the sea. Besides the two last mentioned roads there is a third, between the volcanoes of Popocatepetl and Iztaccihuatl, by Tlamanalco, Ameca, La Cumbre, and Cruz del Correo, passing out of the valley of Mexico into those of Cholula and Puebla.
Five lakes are embosomed in the valley in the immediate neighborhood of Mexico:—
1st. The lake of Zumpango, is the northernmost, and has an area of about 1¼ square leagues. A dam, called La Calzada de la Cruz del Rey, divides it into two basins, the westernmost of which is known as the Laguna de Zilaltepec, and the easternmost, the Laguna de Coyotepec. It is 26 feet higher than the mean level of the lake of ​Tezcoco, and supplies the rivers Pachuca and Quautitlan. The little village of Zumpango lies on its northern shore.
2d. The lake of San Cristoval is immediately south of the preceding, and is likewise divided by a dam into two basins, the northern called the Laguna de Xaltocan and the southern San Cristoval. In the first of these divisions are the villages of Xaltocan and Tomantla, built upon islands. This lake is twelve feet eight inches higher than that of Tezcoco, and its superficial area nearly 4 square leagues. On its shore lies the village of San Cristoval.
3d. The lake of Chalco spreads out at the southern extremity of the valley, and contains the village of Jico built on an island in its bosom. It is divided from the lake of Xochimilco by a dam, or calzada, across which the road passes from Tuliagualco to San Francisco Tlaltenango.
4th. The lake of Xochimilco is separated, as we have described, from that of Chalco; both of these basins cover a superficial area of 6½ square leagues; and their level, according to Baron Humboldt, is 3 feet 9½ inches above the great square of Mexico.
5th. The lake of Tezcoco is that in which the ancient city of Tenochtitlan was built upon the spot at present occupied by the modern city of Mexico, whose walls, however, are now reached by a canal of nearly a mile in length from the western borders of this inland sea. The rivers Teotihuacan, Guadalupe or Tepeyacac, Papalotla and Tezcoco are voided into it. The difference between its water-mark and the level of Mexico, which in Humboldt's time was four feet and one inch has been found by recent measurements to be 18 inches more. Its superficial extent is about 10 square leagues, and its waters are plentifully impregnated with salt, supplying the material for numerous works which are rudely conducted. A thick crust or deposit of carbonate of soda constantly whitens the edges of this lake, which are left bare by the receding of the waters after they have been swept over the leeward shores by the strong winds that occasionally prevail in the valley. The deepest parts of the lake of Tezcoco never contain more than from 6 to 8 feet of water, while some portions are not covered by more than two or three feet. There are two springs of mineral waters in the neighborhood of the capital;—one at Guadalupe, three miles from Mexico, and another at El Peñon, a volcanic pustule which rises abruptly from the plain on the margin of the lake of Tezcoco. The temperature of the latter is quite high.
The mode in which the valley is relieved from the danger of inundations in consequence of the rising of the waters of the lakes ​has been already noticed in a previous portion of this work. The desague, according to recent reports, requires considerable repairs and improvements for the future security of the capital.
The principal cities, towns and villages of this State are:—The national and state capital Mexico;—St. Angel, three leagues from the capital;—Tacubaya, about equidistant from Mexico, containing a number of beautiful residences, and an archiepiscopal Palace surrounded by groves and gardens; Santa Fé, Tlalpam or San Augustin de las Cuevas, four leagues south of the capital, situated upon the first slopes of the mountains, and filled with charming dwellings, to which the Mexicans occasionally retire during the warm season. It is in this town that the festival of St. Augustin is kept in the month of May, and during the three days of its celebration, Tlalpam is a scene of gaiety rarely equalled elsewhere on this continent. Rich and poor pour out from the capital to partake of the unrestrained amusements of the season, and thousands of dollars are lost at the gambling table or in the cock-pit, without which no Mexican festival is considered complete. The Mexican ladies appear at the balls which are given every night, or during the afternoon, on the green at the Calvario, and vie with each other in the splendor and variety of their dresses.
Ajusco, is a village south of Tlalpam:—Chalco, lies on the borders of the lake of that name, and is surrounded by the villages of Acohualpan, Totolapan, Tapostlan, Jico, Tlapacoya, Xochimilco, Mexicalcingo, Iztapalapan, Colhuacan, Huitzilopocho, Itztacualco, Churubusco, and Cuyuacan, most of which are inhabited by Indians and Mestizos who supply the markets of the capital. The Indians of Chalco, with their caballos de palo or "wooden horses," as they fancifully call their boats, carry on an extensive trade with Mexico and its vicinity. They navigate their lake and the canal leading to it with great dexterity; and large boats, capable of containing fifty or sixty persons, are almost daily seen leaving the landings at Mexico in order to convey passengers and freight to the neighboring country.
Tezcoco, lies on the eastern shore of the lake of that name, opposite Mexico, and at the distance of about 12 miles. It is no longer a town of much importance, but is interesting for its historical associations and for the ancient remains within its limits and neighborhood which will be subsequently described.
Tacuba is the site of the Spanish army's refuge after the noche triste or "melancholy night," during which Cortéz and his band ​were driven from the Aztec capital in the year 1520. The image of the Virgin of Remedios, has been generally kept in a chapel in this village, and has often been brought to the capital in seasons of danger, distress or disease.
Tlanepantla; Quautitlan; San Tomas; San Cristoval Xaltocan; Tonantla; Tehuiloyuca; Zumpango; Huehuetoca; are towns and villages north of Mexico.
San Juan de Teotihuacan, and Otumba, lie east of the lake of Tezcoco, and are interesting for the fertility of their neighborhood and for their antiquities.
A ridge of lofty mountains, west of the capital, rising from the plain beyond the limits of Tacubaya separates the valley of Mexico from the valley of Toluca, in which is found the town of Toluca at the foot of the porphyritic mountains of San Miguel Tutucuitlalpillo, at an elevation of 8,606 feet above the level of the sea. It is a beautiful town, celebrated for its soap and candle factories; and the epicures of hams and sausages, procure their choicest dainties from its neighborhood. Lerma, lies on the banks of the pond from which the river Lerma springs; and Istlahuaca, twelve leagues from Toluca, is found in a spur of the same valley.
​The elevations, north of the valley of Toluca, which separate it from the valley of the river Tula, vary from 10,000 to 7,500 feet, and, in the bosom of the latter vale, is found the town of Tula, twenty-two leagues north-west of the capital. It is regularly built, on broad streets, and is celebrated for its Sunday-market, to which the Indians and Mestizos of the adjacent country flock in numbers.
Tulanzingo and Apam, are the chief towns of the districts;—Pachuca is a mining town 8,112 feet above the sea, and, next to Tasco, the oldest mineral work in Mexico. It contains, with its suburbs of Pachuquillo, about 5,000 inhabitants.
Real del Monte, is another mining town, two leagues northerly from Pachuca, at an elevation of about 9,000 feet. Its climate is cold, and its extremely rarefied air is dangerous for lungs unaccustomed to breathe the atmosphere of such lofty regions. Within a few leagues of this place is the celebrated Cascade of Regla.
Atotonilco el Chico, or El Chico, is also a mining village, 7,737 feet above the sea, 4 leagues north-west from Pachuca, and 25 north-east from Mexico. It is situated on the slope of a beautiful valley, surrounded by high mountains, whose peaks peer above the tops of the forest. In the vicinity of Chico, about 5 leagues west and north-west lie the mines of Capula and Santa Rosa.
Atotonilco el Grande is a village 7 leagues north of Real del Monte.
Actopan and Itzmicuilpan lie in the midst of fine agricultural regions.
Zimapan, is a mining town, about 10 leagues north-west of Itzmicuilpan, and 42 from Mexico, situated on the slope of a wide and deep valley, which is watered by a copious brook.
San José del Oro, is a village and mining district, north of Zimapan.
Huejutla; Mextitlan; and Zacualtipan, complete the enumeration of important towns or villages in this part of the State.
From the height of 9,784 feet above the sea, at the Cruz del Marquez, the road descends across the sierra at the southern end of the valley of Mexico, into the valley of Cuernavaca, which, as we have already remarked in the historical part of this work, is a corruption of the Aztec "Quaunahuac." This broad, beautiful and rich valley, lying between three and four thousand feet lower than the valley of Mexico, winds gradually into the vallies of Cuautla and Puebla around the eastern spurs of Popocatepetl, and is remarkable for its fruitfulness and salubrity Sugar, coffee, ​indigo, and all the tropical plants and trees, are successfully cultivated, and the 48 sugar estates comprehended within its limits, produce not less than 200,000 hundred weight of raw and refined sugar, besides 50,000 barrels of distilled spirits.
The chief town is Cuernavaca, lying 3,998 feet above the sea, 3,426 below the city of Mexico, and 5,786 feet beneath the Cruz del Marquez, from the neighborhood of which the whole panorama of this splendid valley bursts upon the traveller. Cuernavaca rests on a tongue of land projecting into the valley between two steep barrancas or ravines. Plentifully supplied with water, and situated in the midst of the tierra caliente, it is, of course, buried among luxuriant foliage which is never touched with frost. The town may, therefore, be justly called a garden, in whose midst rise the picturesque houses of the townsfolk,—the walls of the church built by Cortéz,—and the dwelling that was erected during the Spanish dynasty by the fortunate miner Laborde. The grounds, attached to this edifice, were laid out with care and taste. Lakelets spread out among the profuse vegetation; bellevues were erected at every spot whence a favorite prospect of the valley might be obtained; and bowers were built in the shadiest corners amid lofty palms or choice varieties of native and exotic plants. Time and neglect have done their work upon this beautiful structure; but the vegetation is so abundant and graceful, that the ruined portions are soon filled up and concealed by flowers or leaves. Few spots on earth afford a more agreeable retreat to a man who is willing to pass his life in a tropical climate and in a stagnant society.
Acapantzingo is a village in the neighborhood of Cuernavaca, whose Indian inhabitants are remarkable for their entire separation from the rest of the Mexican population. They have never mingled their blood with the Spaniards during the three hundred years of foreign dominion, but have always preserved, intact, their own laws, habits, institutions, language and customs. They work on the neighboring plantations; but, with this exception, refuse all intercourse with the Mexicans, or part in their government. The authorities have never forced them to abandon their secluded system; but seem to have respected their feeble rights, as the invaders respected the republic of San Marino in Italy during the wars that succeeded the French revolution.
​for many miles in the heart of the mountain, and is filled with some of the most curious and gigantic stalagmites and stalactites on our continent.
Yautepec is a village between the vallies of Cuautla and Cuernavaca; and is celebrated for the excellence and quantity of its tropical fruits. Zapotes, bananas, anonas, guayavas, pomegranates, pine apples grow luxuriantly, with the least care or labor, and at least thirty thousand dollars worth of sweet oranges are annually sent from it to the market of Mexico.
Cuautla de Amilpas, or Ciudad Morelos, is a town in the valley of that name, and made the staunch and memorable resistance to the Spaniards, under the heroic Morelos, during the revolutionary war. It lies 24 leagues S. S. East from the Valley of Mexico,—13 east from Cuernavaca, and is 4,019 feet above the level of the sea. Its climate and productions resemble those of Cuernavaca, but it has never recovered from the effects of the deadly siege.
Passing in a south-westerly direction from the Valleys of Cuautla, Cuernavaca, Mexico and Toluca, we enter the rich metallic region of Tasco which lies upon the declivities of the Sierra Madre, sloping towards the Pacific. In this district we find the town of Temascaltepec, which grew up in the midst of a mining country, formerly rich in the production of silver, but now almost abandoned for such purposes. The North Americans were induced to adventure largely in the mines of this district immediately after the revolution, but their capitals were entirely lost in works which were found to have been abandoned by the Spaniards as valueless, long before they were sold by speculators to companies from the United States. The climate of Temascaltepec is mild and agreeable; and, when the mines were productive, it must have been an agreeable residence. The inhabitants, who have abandoned their former mineral speculations, now devote themselves to the manufacture of cotton shawls and rebozos.
El Valle; Real del Cristo; Sultepec; La Plata; Texupillo; Zacualpan; Huesultepec; Almoloyan; Malinaltenango and Tecamotepec are villages in the vicinity of Temascaltepec.
Tasco is a mining town and capital of the canton or district of that name, 5,853 feet above the sea. The village itself is not important, but is nevertheless worthy of note as the oldest mining region in the confederacy. Soon after the conquest it was wrought.
​for tin, which had been found in the neighborhood by the Indians; and in the year 1752, Laborde, fully developed its mineral wealth in silver.
Extending our observations further to the south-west, we reach the district of Acapulco, which is divided between the slopes of the Sierra and the shores of the Pacific. The declivities of the Cordillera are cut by deep vallies, which open their long and regular vistas towards the ocean. The principal places in this part of the State of Mexico, are Chilapa, with 4,000 inhabitants; Mezcala; Chilpantzingo; Mazatlan; Apandaro, with 3,500 inhabitants; Zirandaro, and Acapulco.
The city of Acapulco is the capital of its district and a port in the Pacific in 16° 50' 29" north latitude, and 102° 12' 12" west longitude from Paris. It lies in a bay, 19,700 yards long, from East to West, protected by a ring of granitic hills and rocks, in which ships may easily load. The entrance to the bay is broad; and the anchorage good, but the water is not deep. Acapulco was formerly the seat of Spanish trade between Mexico and the East; but its ​small population of 3,000 Mulattos, Zambos and a few Mexicans, who are chiefly pearl divers, fishermen and farmers, fully indicates the decline of its commerce and civilization.
The mountains of the State of Mexico are rich in deposits of precious and base metals. North and north-east of the Valley of Mexico are the mining districts and mines of Real del Monte, Moran, Atotonilco el Chico, Pachuca, El Cardinal, Zimapan, Lomo del Toro, Macroni, Pechuga, and San José del Oro. West and south-west of the Valley, are the districts of Rancho del Oro, Temascaltepec, Real del Cristo, Sultepec, Zacualpan, Tasco, Tepantitlan, Tetéla del Rio, and several others. These were all diligently worked by the Spaniards prior to the revolution, but have not been found as profitable by the foreigners who undertook their management since the Independence of Mexico. In the year 1835, numbers of British subjects and Germans formed companies to work these mines, and although the results have been favorable in some places, the greater part of these luckless enterprises have been altogether abandoned. Such has been the sad issue in most of the speculations in silver mines; but we learn that a native company has explored and worked an iron mine at the foot of the Volcano of Popocatepetl, which promises to repay them for their trouble and expense with a plentiful supply of this useful metal.
* ↑ See page 179, vol. I
* ↑ See chapter on the agriculture of Mexico for more extended notices of the character of the valley of Cuernavaca
* ↑ Muhlenpfordt, vol. 2, p. 294.