, 1886-04-06
THE CITY OF MEXICO.
NATURES FORCES USED TO CREATE
A SITE FOR THE CAPITAL

BuiIdlngs of rumics Stone and Pave
ment. Of Lava-Mountain. of Mud
Pioturesqueness Of a Strange
habitant. and Their Ways.
As round as n soup plate, rnised just a
little ia the middle like all well regulated
soup plates, with just a little suggestion
of soup still In the plate out around the
deepest places, and that Is the valley OF
Mexico. The city is on that highest part,
the center, where Cortez found the chill
dren Of the sun, In their gorgeous flower
garden.
As We descend the high wall to the level
valley before us we can easily trace the
formations OF these great black mountains
of h~alf-hidden lands. We can easily see
hat there was once u volcano so terrific as
70 almost tear the earth asunder. You
,an see how the mountains were piled
back and up one after the other, till, like
some grand edltice under the hand of a
skillful builder, the site wa complete.
The buildings at the little stations.
very frequent, as we descend into the val
ley, are all made OF a cemented pumice
stone, light as a cork almost, and these
cemented particles seem to be precisely
sum AAhtA1 bAhn VI HhAAAl2 btOAt b1 1Oh ~
lying in great drifts like snow about the
edge OF the bay Of Naples any morning
after Vesuvius has had a little "blow out"
But this pumice stone has laid so long on
the ground, as said before, that 1t Is
cemented together and now forms a tolera-
bly, substantial wall II put up under
shelter. | can see from some OF the old
buildings in the city that rains and storms
wash 1t away In time.
All the pavements, all the fences, all the
more solid buildings along the approach
10 the city are made Of "A very poor sort of
black lava; and this Is very enduring. 1t
reminds one of the brown tuffa OF which
the coliseum at Rome was built, only this
lava in Mexico is black, and also II is more
porus. Yes, we are surely descending into
the mouth Ola mighty volcano.
THE woSDERs OF A STRANGE LAND.
To the right as we descend is a deep and
ugly cut. Mountains Of mud; an unsatis-
factory piece OF engineering surely. This
is the drain. II was filed up once. And
the city lay for years under water. 1t
looks to be hundreds of feet deep. 1t must
be many leagues In length. 1t seems as il
a tunnel would be the only effectiye
means OF secure operation here. Yet 1t
was ar attempt to tunnel through this
slippery mud that filed this Hcloaca max
mo ana drowned the city.
AS we came down into the green levels,
among the dikes, and drains and gardens,
among the people, among the donkeys and
cows and pigs and turkeys, the chickens
the cackle and crow perpetually, the thou.
sands OF buzzards, we see more color, more
picturesqueness-if 1 may use the word
in one hour than Il whole weeks travel in
the states, or in Europe either, for thai
matter. For Mexico, / find. Is more
strange than all the strange lands | have
yet seen.
The very atmosphere has a languor, a
lazy dignity about 1t that puts you at once
at your ease and prepares you to rest. The
huge brown hills are resting in their man
ties OF imperial purple this early morning.
A soft and dreamy haze hangs about the
hollows, and clefts, and canyons, so that
every outline is softened and toned to a
sense OF rest. There is never a sign OF
storm in heaven. Bluest of all blue skies;
purple, as the sun wheels up, not a bar or
scar, or sign Of cloud. But away beyond
the city, at the other side Of the ancient
volcano, the two still mountains stand
facing each other; holding the purple
world on their snowy shoulders; wearing
the imperial purple of unrecorded EN-.
pires, and OF kings that have no name or
place In history. What a land for thu
painterl
PRoPLK STANDING ON THE ~oUsEroP
We pass little square-built stone houses
close up to the railroad; so close that you
may almost clasp hands with the
strangely-clad and most curious little peo-
pie standing on the housetops. They stand
knee-deep amidst muskmelons, watermel-
ons, corn, peppers, tomatoes, and many
other things taken from their gardens
and placed here on the housetops to ripen
In the sun. You see a thousand things
here on every house that bring up Bible
pictures, and tell you In your heart that
all the stories OF the Bible are true; because,
in some sort you see their counterpart
here among these simple people away out
here on the north OF Mexico City, where,
until very lately, little has been done to
break up the natural tenor of their lives
for centuries.
The two ONE grinding at a milf you
sec here on the housetops in the sun at al
most every mile-post. Why there should
be two l do not know. But there are al
ways two grinding at the little hand-mill.
As to whether zone is taken and the other
left in this Aztec land, as in the land of
old, 1 do not know. But they are here,
and as said before, a thousand things that
are constantly bringing up Bible pictures
familiar in your youth, when your father
read the Bible by the flreside.
They rise early and are on the housetop
with the sun, these people here In the
vast, rich valley. Away up yonder on the
purple mountains side l saw fires that
mingled with the stars rs the morning
came. These are the camp fires of Indians
that still prefer the tent, the camp, the
open air. They come dow at times in the
valleys for hire, are good workers, entirely
honest. But they love the sun as their
ancestors loved 1t, and are mp there to ga
lutte him In the morning. With the hills
behind US, the picturesque people on the
housetop on either side Of us. AS we glide
on through the lanes Of trees. the gardens,
the donkeys, the Growing cocks, the yelp-
ing dogs, the thousands OF hairless and
hideously ugly dogs too lazy to yelp-ln
the midst OF and through all these, under
tho full burst Of the soft morning sun,
we enter the gates OF Mexico City
Joaquin Miller In Chicago Times.
The Famous Wines Of ST. Emi1ion.
The wines OF St. Emilion, which nave
enjoyed favor on royal tables for 1900