# Appleton's Guide to Mexico/Section 3

SECTION III.
The City of Mexico and Environs.
Population of the capital in 1883, according to the best estimates, 225,000. Elevation, 7,347 feet, or 2,240 metres, above the sea-level. Hotels.—San Carlos, Iturbide, Gillow, Comonfort, Guadiola, Nacional, Europa, Del Bazar, Universal, Espíritu Santo, Gran Hotel Central, Ortega, San Agustín, and several others.
Mesones (inns).—De San Francisco, De la Estrella, De San Antonio, Del Picadero, and many others. Restaurants.—Iturbide, De la Concordia, Café Anglais, Maison Dorée, Café de Paris. (Fee in restaurants, one medio (6¼ cents) for each person.)
Post-Office.—In the Calle de la Moneda.
Telegraph-Offices in the railway-stations. Central office of the Government telegraph line in the Callejon del Espiritu Santo No. 5. Office hours, 8 A. M. to 8 p. m.; on feast-days from 9 a. m. to 12 m. Office of the Vera Cruz Commercial line, at No. 14 Del Refugio. Office of the old line to Jalisco, in Los Bajos de San Agustín No. 2. Express-Office in the Hotel Iturbide. Wells, Fargo & Co. have also an agency in the city.
Theatres.—Nacional, in the Calle de Vergara; Principal, Calle del Colisco ; Arbeu, in the Calle de San Felipe Neri.
Baths adjoining the Teatro Nadonal (the others can not be recommended). General Diligence-Office, in the rear of the Hotel Iturbide. Carriages, first, second, and third class.—First class, carrying blue flags, $1 an hour on work-days, and $1.50 on feast-days. Second class, with red flags, 75 cents and $1 on work-days and feast-days respectively. Third class, with white flags, from 6 a. m. to 10 p. m., 50 cents, and from 10 p. m. to 6 a. m., $1 an hour on all days. Public carriages have their number and a tariff of charges printed in Spanish posted in a conspicuous manner inside. The driver is obliged to hand the passenger entering his carriage a paper containing the tariff, his name and number, and the place where he belongs. In hiring a vehicle, one quarter of an hour is the minimum that can be paid for.
Saddle-horses, $2 for the afternoon.
Banks.—London, Mexico, and South America, Capuchinas No. 3; Nacional, corner (esquina) of San Francisco and San Juan de Letran Streets; Mercantil Mexicano, San Agustín No. 15; Bolsa Mercantil Mexicana, Puente del Espíritu Santo No. 6. Societies.—Mexican Geographical and Statistical Society, Calle de San Andres No. 11; Mexican Academy, Calle de Medina No. 6; American club-house at the suburb of La Piedad; German club, corner (esquina) del Colegio de Ninas and Independencia Streets; French Philharmonic and Dramatic Society, 2a de Plateros; French Circle (reading-room), Antigua Lonja, Bajos de la Disputacion; Hunting and Fishing Club, Sta. Isabel No. 9. Railway-stations at Buena Vista, for the Mexican Railway Company, and the Mexican Central Railroad Company; at Colonia, for the Mexican National Railway Company; at San Lazaro for the Morelos Railway Company. Horse-cars, of first and second class, start from the Plaza mayor at intervals of ten, fifteen, thirty, and sixty minutes, for all parts of the city and suburbs not exceeding ten miles distant. (See time-tables.)
Diplomatic Corps.—The United States, France, Spain, Guatemala, Salvador, Honduras, and Chili are represented by envoys extraordinary and ministers plenipotentiary at the capital, Germany, Italy, and Belgium have ministers resident. Formerly Great Britain had diplomatic relations with Mexico, but they were suspended on account of the failure to pay a public debt. At present (July, 1883), Señor Mariscal, the ex-Secretary of Foreign Affairs, is negotiating for the renewal of diplomatic intercourse with England. The foreign ministers live in the suburb of San Cosme. Newspapers. — Single copies, one medio (6¼ cents). The Two Republics, published semi-weekly, is the only journal in English. The Financier is printed half in Spanish and half in English. Besides these, several papers are published in Spanish and French, such as the Monitor Republicano, Diario Oficial, and others.
Bull-fights, at the suburbs of Huisachal and Cuautitlan, on Sunday afternoons.
The City of Mexico is the capital of the Republic. The name is derived from Mexitli, who was the Aztec war-god. Under the name of Tenochtitlan it was the capital of the ancient empire of Anahuac. The story of its origin is as follows: The Aztecs, while wandering about the country, met the Colhuans, a rival tribe. A battle ensued, and the former, being defeated, were pursued by the latter. The Aztecs marched to the valley of Mexico, which ​was then mostly covered by lagoons. An oracle bad commanded them not to found a city till they had come to a spot were an eagle would be seen standing on a rock. Upon exploring the shores of the lagoon, the Aztec rovers beheld the long-sought eagle resting on a cactus, which
grew out of a crevice in the solid rock. Accordingly, they called their city Tenochtitlan, which signifies a "cactus upon a rock."
The device of an eagle, with a serpent in its beak, standing on a cactus that grows out of a rock, has become the escutcheon of Mexico. It is found on the national flag, as well as on the gold and silver coins.
The present capital lies in latitude 19° 25' 45" north, and longitude 99° 5' 15" west of Greenwich. It is built on ​what was formerly an island in the Lake of Tezcuco. The ancient city is said to have been founded on July 18, 1325. Some of the houses were constructed on piles, like the prehistoric Swiss lake-dwellings. In order to protect the capital from the inundations of the surrounding lakes, a system of dikes was established by the Aztecs, the remnants of which exist to the present day. In 1466 Montezuma I, after a disastrous flood in Tenochtitlan, ordered a dike to be constructed, which was 39,360 feet long and 65 feet wide.
At the time of the Conquest the ancient capital was entered by the Spaniards under Cortes on the 8th day of November, 1519. After a residence of about seven months, he was compelled to evacuate it. In the following year, with the aid of brigantines on Lake Texcoco, which were built especially for the purpose, in the neighboring hills, the Conqueror attacked and besieged the city. The siege lasted seventy-five days, when the Aztecs surrendered to the invaders. Soon afterward the Spaniards destroyed Tenochtitlan, and built a capital of their own on the same site, which has since borne the name of Mexico. Cortes made a great mistake in founding the modern city on the site of the old one, which was situated on soft ground, and involved an expensive system of dikes and causeways. It would have been preferable to have selected an elevated spot in the vicinity, like Tacubaya, about six miles south of the capital. Scarcely a vestige remains of the ancient metropolis. Several Aztec monuments, such as the calendar and sacrificial stones, and a few idols, have been dug up on the site of Tenochtitlan; but the ruins of not even a single house or temple can be found to-day. These relics were practically incapable of destruction. Accordingly, they were buried.
The teocalli, or pyramid of the ancient capital, was much smaller than those of San Juan Teotihuacan and ​Cholula. It was ninety feet on each side at the base, and decreased as it advanced in height to a surface of thirty feet square. There were two altars on the summit. Thus much for the history of Tenochtitlan.
The valley of Mexico, near the center of which lies the capital, is about forty-two miles long and about thirty miles wide. It contains six lakes, which were originally one large lagoon. Their names are—beginning at the south—Xochimilco, Chalco, Texcoco, San Cristobal, Xaltocan, and Zumpango. The last-named lake is the highest, while Texcoco is the lowest and largest. Lake Texcoco has heretofore received the overflow of the others. Their aggregate area is about twenty-two square leagues. The water of these lakes is salt, excepting that of Xochimilco. They are probably the highest bodies of salt-water in the world.
The climate is temperate, the mean annual temperature being 60° Fahr. There is considerable moisture in winter and during the rainy season, from June to September. The most changeable weather occurs in February. May is the hottest month. During the entire year the early morning is cold, the thermometer generally falling to about 40° Fahr., and occasionally sinking below the freezing-point. There are no fireplaces nor hot-air furnaces in the houses of Mexico, which circumstance renders a stranger uncomfortable during damp and cold weather. Travelers are cautioned to be extremely careful to avoid taking cold on reaching the capital. Many of the buildings are old, and the doors and windows do not fit tightly.
Mexico can hardly be called a healthy city. The great desideratum of the capital is proper drainage. This subject has been investigated by the ablest minds in the country from time immemorial. During the Spanish domination the dikes and causeways often proved insufficient to protect the city from floods. Since the foundation of the ​capital, or since the Conquest, there have been five great inundations, viz., in 1553, 1580, 1604, 1607, and 1629-'34.
In 1607 the Viceroy Salinas began the artificial drainage of the lakes, by constructing a canal at Huehuetoca, on the northern side of the valley. This canal, or desague, is described at length in the section on the Mexican Central Railroad, which now passes through the remains of it. The Indian system of dikes had been temporarily abandoned, and the canal proving a failure, the result was a terrible inundation in 1629, which lasted five years. During this period communication was made by means of canoes, the seat of government was removed to one of the suburbs, trade was at a stand-still, and the distress and misery of the lower classes baffled all description. It was deemed advisable to return to the dike system, which has been preserved ever since.
For many years the Plaza mayor was only three or four feet above the level of Lake Texcoco. The level of this lake varies from year to year, and there is now a gauge on the Plaza mayor to indicate the height of its waters. Owing to evaporation the surface of the lake is much lower than during the reign of the viceroys. In the winter of 1882-'83 it was about six feet below the Plaza mayor. There are no cellars in the City of Mexico, and water is reached a few feet below the street-pavement. The soil is so soft that a solidly cemented foundation of lime and stone is used for the larger buildings.
In 1882 an American company entered into a contract with the Mexican Government to drain the valley of Mexico, agreeing to deposit a bond of $200,000 as a guarantee to carry out the scheme. The last session of Congress, however, declared this contract forfeited on account of the failure to file the bond.
It has been suggested that a thorough system of drainage for the capital would do more harm than good, for the ​reason that the heavier buildings might settle so much as to render them unsafe. The early Spanish historians narrate that, before the Conquest, the valley of Mexico was covered with dense forests. The foreign invaders made war on these forests, as did the Puritans in New England, and to-day, with the exception of the magnificent grove of Chapultepec, there are only a few rows of trees of recent growth along the causeways.
The houses in the capital are built of heavy masonry, with stairways of stone, and with roofs and floors of brick and cement. Each building includes one or more open court-yards, or patios. These patios are either paved with flag-stones, or planted with flowers and shrubbery, and adorned with fountains and statuary. In the suburbs the dwellings do not generally exceed one story in height, but in the heart of the city they frequently rise to three. The entrance of each house from the street is by a single port cochère, which is closed at night, and attended by a porter, who occupies an adjoining room, and who is held responsible for the entries and exits.
The capital is virtually fire-proof, it being next to impossible to set fire to a Mexican house.
In dwellings of more than one story, the upper floor, on account of the higher ceilings, is always preferred as a residence, although it commands the highest rents. The ground-floor is commonly occupied for business purposes—e. g., for stables, store-houses, or workshops.
There are no aristocratic streets nor quarters in the City of Mexico, the homes of both the upper and lower ​classes being scattered over the metropolis, and oftentimes being found under the same roof.
The capital is indifferently watered by two aqueducts containing respectively clear and muddy water.
The supply is conducted by pipes to numerous tanks and open fountains located in all parts of the city, whence it is distributed for family use by a licensed corps of aguadores, or water-carriers. Their charges are from two cents to twelve and a half cents a load, according to the distance of the fountain from the place of delivery.
The public edifices and business houses are lighted with gas of inferior quality. In private dwellings kerosene-oil and stearine candles are generally used. Some quarters of the city are illuminated with lamps of gasoline or petroleum. Recently, the electric light has been employed on the Plaza mayor and adjacent streets.
Places of Interest.—1. The Cathedral and El Sagrario. 2. The Palace and Maximilian's Coach. 3. The Museum (El Museo Nacional). 4. The Academy of San Carlos. 5. The Mining School (Colegio de Mineria). 6. The Mint (Casa de Moneda). 7. The Church of La Santissima. 8. The Church of Santo Domingo. 9. The Church of La Profesa. 10. The Church of Santa Teresa. 11. The Church of San Fernando. 12. The Convent of San Francisco. 13. The National Library (La Biblioteca Nacional). 14. The Park (La Alameda). 16. The Tivoli Gardens. 16. The Drive (Paseo de la Reforma). 17. The Canal (El Paseo de la Viga). 18. Alvarado's Leap (El Salto de Alvarado). In the Environs.—1. Chapultepec. 2. Atzcapatzalco and the Noche-triste tree. 3. Tacubaya (Military Academy and private residences). 4. Guadalupe (church and chapel). 5. La Piedad (Al Fresco, the American Club). 6. San Angel. All of which are reached by horse-cars from the Plaza mayor.
We have not space enough to give a minute account of each one of the above objects of interest; accordingly, a brief reference will be made to them in the above order:
​in 1667, at a cost of $1,750,000. It covers a space of about 432 X 200 feet. This Cathedral is the largest in North America. Some of the paintings within are said to be the work of Murillo. The Emperor Iturbide is buried in one of the chapels. The Aztec temple, or teocalli, formerly occupied the site of the Cathedral. The famous Calendar-Stone leans against the wall of this building. It is twelve feet in diameter, three feet thick, and weighs twenty-five tons. The Sagrario has a beautifully carved façade. Just east of it is a monument erected to the memory of the distinguished engineer Enrico Martinez, which contains a gauge to register the level of Lake Texcoco in the pedestal.
2. The Palace, which is built on the site of that of Montezuma, is the largest building in Mexico, the front measuring 675 feet. It contains the Embassadors' Hall, or Sala de Embajadores, and Maximilian's Coach. The former is a room about 310x30 feet, with a throne at the southern end for the President and his Cabinet. It has, among other objects, full-length portraits by Segredo and other Mexican artists of the heroes of the War of Independence, such as Hidalgo, Morelos, Allende, and others; also portraits of Juarez, Diaz, and Washington, and a large painting of the great battle of Puebla, of May 5, 1862. Maximilian's Coach is in a room on the ground-floor, near the center of the Palace. The body of the vehicle is painted dark red. The wheels are gilded, and the interior is lined with white-silk brocade, with trimmings of heavy silver thread. There is no other coach of equal magnificence in the Western World. It surpasses in elegance the imperial carriages of Russia. Strangers should not fail to see it. The doors of the Embassadors' Hall and of the room containing the coach are always locked. The keys may be obtained at the office of the Governor of the Palace, which is near the middle door of the façade. (A fee of one real should be paid to the mozo who shows ​the traveler the coach, and two reales to the servant who opens the door of the Sala de Embajadores.)
The Cathedral and Quetzalcoatl. Palace are situated on the Plaza mayor, in the center of which is the zócalo.
3. The Museum contains the sacrificial stone and many idols on the ground-floor; and Maximilian's silver service, several portraits, a large collection of Mexican curiosities, chiefly pottery, and photographs of the ruins of Yucatan and Chiapas, are found on the second story. It is to be regretted that the latter part of the Museum is open to the public only on
These idols are in the patio of the Museum.
to 12 m., and Thursdays from 3 to 5 p. m.
The court-yard is always open to visitors. The sacrificial stone (Piedra de los sacrificios) is the principal object of interest. It is 835 feet in diameter, 2¾ feet high, and Teoyaomiqui. 2716 feet in circumference. It was found in the Plaza mayor on December 17, 1791. The number of human beings sacrificed on this celebrated stone is estimated at sixty thousand!
The manner of sacrifice was as follows: The victim was made to lie down, his feet and hands were held by four priests in gaudy attire, while a fifth pierced his breast with a razor of itztli, or volcanic glass. The latter then inserted his hand into the wound, and, tearing out the heart, threw it at the foot of the adjoining idol. The reader is referred to Prescott's Conquest of Mexico, vol. i, pages 74-86, for a full description of human sacrifices. We have not space to describe the serpent-idols and other objects, the number of which is forty-seven. Small catalogues in Spanish are sold at the door. It may be said that the collections made by M. Charnay in Southern Mexico, through the liberality of Pierre Lorillard, Esq., of New York, are in the museum, although not on exhibition, with the exception of a few objects. It was the ​purpose of M. Charnay to send his collections of antiquities to Paris, but the Mexican Congress refused to pass a bill allowing the articles to be taken out of the country.
4. The Academy of San Carlos is the only academy of the fine arts in the country, except one at Guadalajara. It contains a large number of paintings and some plaster casts of well-known statues. Most of the pictures are the work of foreign artists, such as Zurbaran, Murillo, Rubens, Correggio, and Velasquez. Some of them have been painted by Mexicans, and possess considerable merit. The principal native artists are José and Luis Juarez, Cabrera, Parra, and Balthazar de Chave. Unfortunately, there is no catalogue of the pictures. An art-school is connected with the academy. (Vide Chapter XXII.)
5. The Mining School was considered by Humboldt as one of the finest buildings in the country. It occupies a lot 300 X 340 feet, and has collections of rocks, minerals, and fossils, chiefly from Mexico. It cost $1,500,000.
6. The Mint is the oldest in Mexico. It is open from 8 a. m. to 5 p. m.
7. The Church of La Santissima is noted for the exquisite carvings on the façade.
8. The Church of Santo Domingo, in a square of the same name, possesses beautiful gilt wood-work, some old paintings, and a wooden model of the Saviour, in a recumbent attitude, and wearing a crown of thorns. Persons entering the church kiss the toe of this figure in the same manner as devout Roman Catholics kiss the statue of St. Peter at Rome. A table stands near the image to receive offerings (limosnas). The ruins of a convent, overgrown with weeds, are in the rear of the church. The Custom-House and Medical School are situated on the eastern side of the Plaza de Santo Domingo. The latter was once used by the Inquisition, and it now has a library and anatomical museum. ​11. The Church of San Fernando contains the ashes of the unfortunate Generals Mejia and Miramon.
12. The Paseo de la Reforma (sometimes called El Paseo de Bucareli), or "Empress Drive," leads from the Alameda to Chapultepec. Statues of Charles IV of Spain, Christopher Columbus, and President Juarez, have been erected on the Paseo. The fashionable hour for driving is from 5 to 6 p. m.
13. The Canal, adjoining the Paseo de la Viga, presents a busy scene in the early morning. The Indians bring their fruits and vegetables to market, and the canal is crowded with their rafts and canoes. The tourist should hire a canoe and visit either Lake Texcoco, about three miles distant, or the "vegetable" gardens, a mile and a half from the terminus of the "Viga" horse-car track. A party of three or four persons may employ an Indian to paddle them to the gardens for the sum of one dollar. There is no tariff of charges, and a bargain must be made. Sailing through the narrow canals cut in the marshy soil, where fruits, vegetables, and flowers grow abundantly, the traveler may form some idea of the ancient aspect of the Venice of the New World. The chinampas, or so-called floating islands, which have always excited the wonder of foreigners, are never seen at the present day. They were formed of small masses of earth, covered with herbs, and held together by roots, and are detached from the shore of the lagoon by the waves during stormy weather. These gardens are known to have been in use as far back as the end of the fourteenth century. They were afterward artificially constructed by making rafts of reeds, rushes, roots, and brush-wood, and covering these with black mold naturally impregnated with muriate of soda, but gradually purified from the salt and rendered fertile by washing it with the water of the lake. Some of the chinampas are movable and driven about by the winds, but others are anchored or ​attached to the shore, and are towed or pushed with poles from one spot to another. The Indians occasionally built huts on these chinampas, and are said to have raised vegetables on them.
18. Alvarado's Leap is marked by a small bridge in the Calle de los Hombres Ilustres, just west of the Alameda. The San Cosme horse-cars pass the spot. This street was formerly a causeway leading from the capital toward the mainland, over which the Spaniards passed in the evacuation of the city on the memorable noche triste, or "sad night" of July 1, 1520. The portable bridge over a breach in the causeway had been destroyed, and Alvarado, unwilling to plunge into the waters of the lake, paused upon the brink for a moment. Resting his long lance on the ground, he succeeded in leaping across the gap, to the great astonishment of both the Spaniards and Aztecs. This place has ever since been known as the Salto de Alvarado. As the width of the breach is not given by the chroniclers of the time, the reader can have no means of judging how skillful a pole-vaulter this Spanish warrior may have been.
A card of admission must be obtained at the Palace for permission to enter the castle of Chapultepec During the French invasion the castle was occupied by Maximilian, that personator of Napoleon's dream of empire in the Western World. The view from Chapultepec is one of surpassing beauty, and the grounds contain a magnificent grove consisting chiefly of cedars draped with Spanish moss. One of the trees has been named after Montezuma. The stranger is advised to hire an open carriage by the hour, and drive to Chapultepec and the neighboring town of Tacubaya, visiting the Military School and stately villas if possible.
The celebrated Noche-triste tree is situated in the village of Popotla, near an old church. Cortes is said to have ​sat under this tree and cried over his misfortunes, after the disastrous retreat of the Spaniards during the night of the evacuation. The tree is known to the Indians as the ahuehuete, and is called a sabino in Spanish. It is a species of cedar, and is ten feet in diameter at the base and
about forty feet high. An iron railing surrounds it. The Atzcapotzalco horse-cars run through the Riviera de San Cosme, passing Alvarado's Leap, the houses of the foreign legations, the Tivoli Gardens, the School of Agriculture, the Tlaxpana aqueduct, and the noche-triste tree, before ​reaching their destination. This aqueduct was built by the Spaniards, and contains the agua delgada, or soft water. It has nine hundred arches of about fifteen feet in height, each of which is said to have cost $1,000. At San Cosme the aqueduct terminates, and the water is conducted underground in pipes to the heart of the city.
The causeway that leads to Popotla and Atzcapotzalcois bordered on either side with a deep ditch into which the water drains and becomes stagnant. The surrounding region, which is now much lower than the causeway, was formerly a part of the great Mexican lagoon. Many of Cortes's soldiers were drowned here on the "sad night."
The suburb of Guadalupe is remarkable for its cathedral and chapel. It is reached by horse-cars from the Plaza mayor in about thirty minutes. The cathedral is a massive brick edifice, with four towers around a central dome. The interior is noted for the solid silver railing, about three feet high, which leads from the choir to the high altar and extends around the edge of the latter. The famous picture of the Virgin hangs in the high altar. The choir is adorned with artistic wooden carvings, and there is a large organ on each side of it. There are a great many ex-votos hung on the wall of the cathedral near the main entrance. They are principally cheap oil-paintings and wax-work.
A long poem has been written on this miraculous appearance of the Virgin, and it is sold in book-form at the door of the cathedral. Ribbons of various colors, giving the size of the head of Our Lady of Guadalupe, are also offered for sale. A high mass is celebrated on the 12th day of every month, and on the 12th of December a great religious festival takes place, which is attended by persons from all parts of the Republic. It is the anniversary of the day upon which the Virgin first appeared to Juan Diego. Among the illustrious dead buried in this cathedral are the Viceroy Bucareli and Colonel Obregon. The original flag that was carried by Hidalgo in 1810 is deposited here.
The chapel of Guadalupe is situated on a hill directly behind the cathedral. A good view of the valley of Mexico may be obtained from the façade of the former.
The famous Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo was signed at this place on the 2d of February, 1848.
The battle-fields of Chapultepec, Molino del Rey, and Cheruhusco, lie a few miles south of the capital. A ​handsome stone monument has been erected, by Generals Diaz and Gonzalez, near the castle of Chapultepec, to the memory of the heroes of the war of 1847.
The tourist will have some difficulty in finding his way about the streets of the City of Mexico, as each block has a different name. Some streets have the same appellation for two or three squares, with a number added to each one—e. g., 1a, 2 da, and 3ra de San Francisco.
The principal business thoroughfare is the Calle de Plateros, which leads from the Plaza mayor toward the Alameda.
The finest shops in Mexico are on this street; English and French are spoken in some of them. Several new buildings are being erected, and others improved, in this part of the city.
A walk through the colonnades known as the Portal Mercaderes will be found interesting. The military band plays in the adjoining zócalo four evenings in the week.
Strangers will be pleased with the variety of Mexican costumes seen in the public squares. The black-cloth suits ornamented with silver buttons, and broad-brimmed felt hats with silver bands, are the most picturesque of all.
A great deal of pulque is consumed in the national capital, and the traveler will meet many intoxicated persons on the street. It is said that there are two thousand shops, or pulquerias, in the city, at which thirty thousand gallons of pulque are consumed daily.
If the tourist has but a single day to spend in the capital, he should visit the Cathedral, Palace, Museum, Academy of San Carlos, Church of Santo Domingo, Paseo de la Reforma, Chapultepec, and go to the opera in the evening.
EXCURSIONS AROUND THE CAPITAL.
We would advise the tourist to leave his trunk at some hotel in the City of Mexico, and make short trips in all directions.
The best excursions are as follows:
1. From Mexico to Celaya via Mexican Central Railroad, and return via Maravatio and Toluca. This route is described in Sections IV and V.
2. To the Pyramids of San Juan Teotihuacan. Distance, 25 miles.
Take the morning train to the station of the same name on the Mexican Railway, and walk or drive to the pyramids, about two miles distant. The larger one is dedicated to the Sun, and the other is called the pyramid of the Moon. An extensive view may be had from the summit of the former. The valley of Mexico is clearly seen, and in the distant south the Nevado de Toluca is visible. (See chapter on ruins for a complete description of the teocallis.) There are no hotel accommodations at San Juan Teotihuacan. A bad fondita may be found in the town, but the traveler is recommended to carry provisions with him from the capital, and return by the afternoon train.
3. From Mexico to Pachuca. Distance, 57 miles.
Pachuca contains some of the oldest mines in the Republic. Many of them were worked long before the Spanish Conquest. The town lies in the State of Hidalgo, and is reached by rail from the City of Mexico to Irolo, and thence by tramway. (Hotel, San Carlos.) There is a governmental school of practical mining here. The population of Pachuca is about 13,000, of which 5,000 are miners, and the altitude, as measured by Humboldt, is 8,150 feet. A great many Cornishmen are employed here, although this mining district is one out of a very few in which European or American miners have been introduced. Pachuca contains about one hundred and fifty mines, and Real del ​Monte has seventy-five of them. The ore is composed mainly of blackish silver sulphides. Several English companies have established themselves in Pachuca, and an American company has recently been organized to work the tailings of some of the older mines. It is highly probable that improved mining machinery will soon be used in this district. Compressed cakes of English coal are imported at the rate of $22 a ton! It is said that a valuable deposit of coal has lately been discovered in the vicinity. Excursions may easily be made from Pachuca to the adjoining mining town of Real del Monte (elevation, 9,057 feet), and to the town and cascade of Regla, and also to the village of El Chico.
Leaving Mexico, the road leads over a causeway, bordered with a row of poplars on either side, to the suburb of Tlalpam, about seven miles distant. A horse-car track runs parallel with the road. Thence the route turns to the southeast, and lies over a sandy region as far as the end of the valley of Mexico.
The lofty mountain of Ajusco is seen on the west, and the Lake of Xochimilco on the east. The diligence now begins to ascend the pass leading through the ridge which forms the southern boundary of the plateau of Anahuac. The roadway is smooth, and kept in good order as far as the summit, and the grade is moderate. As the stage-coach climbs the winding pass, the tourist soon obtains a beautiful view of the valley of Mexico, whose surface is dotted with various extinct volcanoes, and the several lakes that have already been mentioned. Picturesque villages are scattered over the oval-shaped plain.
(The patio process is described on page 267.)
The road now descends gradually. It is stony, and much rougher than the northern portion of the route. Fortunately for tourists, however, this highway is undergoing repairs, and is already the best and, perhaps, the oldest line of travel for diligences in the Republic. As the observer continues on his journey down-hill, he will see the distant city of Cuernavaca on the south. The city lies on a mesa, or natural terrace, beyond which is a broad valley running east and west.
The coach soon reaches another hamlet, and the animals are changed for the last time. Five mules, instead of eight, are sufficient to draw the vehicle over the rapidly descending grade, and in about an hour the tourist arrives at his destination.
CUERNAVACA.
Population, 16,320. Elevation, 5,380 feet, according to Humboldt. Hotels.—San Pedro and Del Fenix, both on the plaza.
Baths, one block north of the San Pedro.
Places of Interest.—1. Cortes's Palace. 2. The Parochial Church. 3. The Church of Guadalupe. 4. The Borda Gardens. 5. Maximilian's villa at Acapancingo.
Cuernavaca, the capital of the State of Morelos, was originally called Quauhnahuac (i. e. , near the beautiful hills), a term given to it by the Tlahuicos, who were the ​founders of the city. It was conquered by the Spaniards in April, 1521. Both of the foreign usurpers, Cortes and Maximilian, made this place their favorite winter resort.
Cortes's Palace is now used as a court-house, and has been rebuilt since the Independence of Mexico. The Borda Gardens, once very beautiful, are in ruins. They are on the western edge of the town, and are worthy of a visit. Maximilian's villa is now used as a school-house. It is called El Colegio de Niñas. A handsome garden adjoins the villa, but it is not in good condition. Cotton, coffee, bananas, and palms, besides flowers, grow here. The unfortunate emperor occupied this place from January to October, in 1866. He is said to have built the charming villa at his own expense. The snow-clad mountains of Popocatepetl and Iztaccihuatl are in full view, and lie about twenty-five miles to the eastward.
The village of Acapancingo is situated about one mile and a half southeast of Cuernavaca. There was once a good wagon-road thither, but now it is practicable only for horsemen and pedestrians.
Much sugar-cane is grown in the neighborhood, and a crop may be reaped within twelve months after planting the cuttings.
The tourist should visit the temple or fortress of Xochicalco, which is one of the most remarkable remains on Mexican soil. It lies eighteen miles from Cuernavaca, on a rocky eminence, almost a league in circumference, which is cut into terraces faced with stone. The building on the summit is seventy-five by sixty-six feet in area. It is of hewn granite, and was constructed in the usual pyramidal-terraced form. A few years ago this temple was used as a sugar-refinery.
An excursion may be taken from Cuernavaca to the famous cave of Cacahuamilpa, which lies in a limestone region, about forty miles south of the city. It can be reached ​by wagon or horseback. As no hotel accommodations are to be had, the tourist is advised to carry blankets and provisions for three days. The cave has not yet been fully explored.
A trip to Tasco (fifty-four miles distant) may also be made from Cuernavaca. The town contains silver-mines that were worked before the Conquest. It has also a beautiful parish church. The altitude of Tasco is 5,852 feet, according to Humboldt.
5. From Mexico to Cuautla.
This excursion may include the great volcano of Popocatepetl. (The entire route is described in Section VIII)
* ↑ Now spelled Texcoco.
* ↑ About seven and a half miles.
* ↑ The Mexican Government has recently made a contract with Oscar A. Drorge to plant 2,000,000 trees in the valley of Mexico within four years, 500,000 a year, for $200,000. The contractor agrees to put in annually 80,000 ash, 35,000 willows, 12,000 poplars, 60,000 eucalypti, 60,000 acacias, and other varieties, in plantations of from 50,000 to 100,000; and to receive in his nurseries three graduates annually of the Agricultural School.
* ↑ Chapultepec means "grasshopper's hill."