The Bossier banner. [volume] (Bellevue, Bossier Parish, La.) 1859-1952, 1880-06-17
A View From the Cathedral at Puebla.
Mexico.

Magnificent as the inside of the cathe-
dral is in its pictures, statues, ratings
and other ornaments of gold and silver,
it is not one-half as lovely as the view
that can be obtained by climbing up in
| to one of the two towers. The door of
the tower next to the Plaza Mayor is
| always open and the flight of steps is
| not very steep. Still it is not very easy
OF ascent, for the high elevation.7,OO0
| feet above the sea--at which Puebla
stands makes the heart quicken, and
the breath come and 60 with alarming
rapidity as the lungs work at double
speed. But once in the chamber where
the bells are hung, all fatigue is forgot
ten in the presence of the lovely land
scape of plain and mountain that lies
extended at every side below. The
plain is about one hundred miles in
length by ninety in breadth, and at
each corner stand the magnificent
mountains for which Mexico is famed,
unequaled in height or grandeur by
the highest of the Alps. Twenty-Five
miles to the southwest stands the NIGH
ty volcanic peak of Popocatepetl, or the
smoking mountain, the fires that SO
long throbbed within its breast slum-
bering after thousands of centuries Of
activity, its head covered with eternal
snow and every rugged charm clearly
visible in the rare air, SO pure and clear
at this altitude.
There is an enormous amount of sui
phur taken out of the extinct crater,
and the carrying down of this and of
the frozen snow on the sides of the
mountain employs hundreds of Indians.
Popocate petl is the very beau ideal of
volcano almost pyramidal in shape;
but the neighboring lztaccihuatl
is a long rugged ridge and gets
its name from the Indians, owing to its
resemblance to white woman living
asleep. Iztaccihuatl, as seen from the
cathedral at Puebla, is to the northwest,
while from the city of Mexico both these
mountains are to the southeast. Look
ing to the east, the magnificent snow
clad peak of Orizaba is seen at a dis
lance of some sixty miles, and about
twenty miles to the northeast stands
the smaller but exceedingly picturesque
Malinche, still covered with virgin for
eStS.
AT ones feet lies the city, with its
picturesque fiat-roofed houses, numer-
Gus spires and domes. Many of the
larger buildings have battered ap-
pearance, owing to the frequent bonn
harding the town has undergone; for
whenever revolution begins the first
thing to do is to besiege Puebla, which
is supposed to be the key to the plains
OF Mexico. The most famous of these
sieges was in 1868, when it was sur
rendered by General Ortega to Marshal
Forey, who commanded the French.
just outside the city is the hill and fort
OF Guadalupe, the hill where the French
got their only beating, on the famous
Ctmco Mayo. or fifth Of May; San Juan.
where Marshal Forey had his head |
quarters during the French siege, and
where Senior Zamacona, the late Next
can Minister to Washington, and promi-
nent candidate for the Presidency, has
a hacienda; and some half dozen miles |
away Cholula, with its pyramid and
churches. The plain around Puebla il
very fertile, and is irrigated with great |
care; wheat, corn, and other grains |
grow IN perfection, the wheat often |
producing eighty fold. The methods |
OF agriculture are being greatly i'm
proved, and one enterprising member |
OF an agricultural society which was |
lately formed in Mexico is employing |
American machinery, which, by the
way, can be imported free of duty, on
his estate near Puebla. The aaopal
cactus also grows in great quantities in
the neighborhood, and thousands Of |
cochineal insects are fed upon its broad. |
rough leaves. N. Y. Sun.