The mountain sentinel. [volume] (Ebensburg, Pa.) 1844-1853, 1850-10-31
vol. mo. 4.

tesque iorms-some carrying portfolios to
''take likeness"-others provided with
ma themaIlcai instruments 10 determine
th e height-some practising with pistols
and others Initiating the gravity ofthe
children Of The couatry,- by quietly sno
king their pUrOs, aud keeping their cog
itatIons 10 themselves | venture
TO say, concerned about the chances of .hs
war, and all eager to see The queer, old.
dumb chronicle of long ago, among the
Toltecs. or even their predecessors 10 the
land. As for The Aztecs, they were par
ve'aueS 10 the pyramid. What a ply
Memnon had a fabulous voice! Who can
lock upon aarelic of ages. like tins, with
out having the simple thought pass
through the mind, "Waat This could tell.
if it had tonguc!"
We galloPed up to the base of the pyr-
amid, which stands near The entrance of
the town, and many Of the officers dis
mounted, TO make the ascent on foot. A
horse can go almost anywhere; relying
on this principle, I kept my seat, and wss
paid for my venture by finding myself,
safe and unfaiigued, in the grounds of The
Chapel of Our Lady of some queer name,
which has happily replaced lhs, horrid
old temple of human sacrifice, which
marked The ignorant devotion OF q bar
barous people 10 their unknown God"
Who can blame me for not remembering
one name among the thousands which
Cur Lazy chooses, in the countries which
nationally acknowledge her manifold
claims?
But my readers are not prepared TO
reach the top SO summarily, and without
taking survey as we approach the pyE-
amid.
Il was originally a frus;um of right
pyramid, with a rectangular base, Zone
thousand four hundred and twenty three
feet Iong-twice as long as that of tho
great pyramid of Cheops."f lts base
covers forly-four acres, and its summit is
more than one acre in area. These di-
mensions have not been appreclably al
teied, but the edges have become rounded
by constant atirition, deep assures have
been cut by time in its faces, and the road
which winds around from one side nearly
TO The other al the top, has been, by de-
grees, excavated so as TO present wall OF
well-pressec, unburnt brick on each side.
In all The clefts, as well as in the parapeis
OF the road, /: appears that it was built of
unburnt brick. and as deep as it has ever
been penetrated, the same formation is
evident.
Most of us agreed with Humbolt in the
opinion that three was natural mound,
which was taken as the nucleus, and which
the builders covered, and thus brought 10
its present shape. Be that as it NAV, it is
still stupendous work, and covered as il
now is with thick growth of centuries,
il bespeaks age, grandeur, and a consecFs-
ton of the mighty, the immense, and The
eternal, TO their fearful but revered deity.
We reached the summit, and without
waiting to see the magnificent spectacle.
we rushed into the church, and assembled
TO the belfry, TO gain, if possible, some
thing by the additional ninety feet Of ele-
vation thus afforded. In reaching the top,
we passed up a spiral staircase, which
might architecturally define "the blackness
OF darkness" as there is no Window in
the whole ascent. Il is, however, a fine
preparatire for the view upon which we
emergeo-the most magnificent panorama
which has ever greeted my eyes. A pure.
thin atmosphere, and a cloudless sky,
were indeed necessary elements OF The
view, and these we had. Around, IN every
direction, we looked upon beautiful
champaign country, irrigated with canals,
many of which seemed TO falsify the
mathematical axiom that parallel lines, if
produced, will never meet; here and there
a cluster of houses, with their plantain-
trees, and lille curling wreaths of smoke,
La Puebla in clear sight, ard every spot
OF the road between us so marked, that
we could almost compute distances as
upon map.
But these were all los, in our wrapt
contemplation of the mighty volcanies.
Far away 10 the west, and yet SO clearly
defined as 10 be apparently within pistol
shot, Popoca!apeIi and Izleccihuati-"fhe
fire nlo1atai5a and The dead lVonla1i' +
the one with It's smooth. cnnicaI top. and
the other with Us nnevenly cut outline,
rise boldly from among The surrounding
hills, and pierce the Clouds. AT their ap-
parent base, they partake of the common
verdure; little higher, they become brown
and winlry to the limit of vegetation. and
;hen presenting parallel stratum of bare
rock. as far as the limit of perpetual snow.
~Hy0s del pas, as the natives are
called,
fPrescoii.
THE latter SO called because its serra-