Phillipsburg herald. [volume] (Phillipsburg, Kan.) 1882-1905, 1886-10-23
A SUBMERGED village.
Beheld in the Calm Depths OF a CIea1
Mexican Lake.

Beheld in the Calm Depths OF a Cleal
Mexican Lake.
One Of the most remarkable Of lakes
is the Laguna de Teuuezuuitengo, in tbs
Mexican state Of MOrelOs. It is a beau
tiful sheet, and has many appearances OF
being a natural body Of water. but. nav
ertheless, it is artificial and OF compar-
aively recent date. 1t lies in the
deFth of a valley about two miles long
and little less in width. A Mexican
| gentleman who visited the spot-Which
is remote from the ordinary lines of
travel, IN the district of Juarez-has
written an account Of the place. which
has been reproduced in the july colIec-
/ ton OF monthly reports, issued by the
secretary OF public works, giving stats
/ tics and information about agriculture
and industries, including the geogrsph-
ical features Of the country. The writer
] Mr.. EugeniO de j. CanOs SAYS. asWhep.
IN one of the touid days OF May, the
| traveller who, for the first time. makes
/ the journey from puente de Iztla to Jo-
Julia by the IeqH -zquitengO road feels
| oppressed by the fiery sun, his sight IA
| tgued by the Eridity Of the hills among
which the highway describes its tortu-
GUS curves, and whose dry, dust covered
vegetation inspires only WEAKNESS and
encouragement; when he vainly seeks
to penetrate the veil with which the Ia
~ air limits the horizon on all sides.
and longing for a dropof water to moist
en- his Darched and thirsty lips, how
limPid, poetic, smiling and fresh Is the
aspect when suddenly there appears at
his feet, N the depths of that topograph-
zeal depression, the beautiful artificial
lake Of Tequezquitengo?
''Ihe crystalline aspect Of its limited
surface is like that of the clearest mir
rOr. Around the lake all Is verdure and
.freshness3 beyond, the land is dry hot,
dusty, and sad Of aspect. This contrast
perhaps, heightens the beauty OF the
lake.
what strange creatures are those,
seeking In the water a refuge from the
burning rays Of the sun? They are cara
baos, beasts of burden, indigenous TO
the Philippine Islands and imported by
the Senores Moro, former owner Of the
hacienda de San Jose Vista Hemoso,
one Of the largest sugar estates In More
los, within whose limits lie the lake, these
carabaOs were imported for use on the
place. But it appears they were not Of
the anticipated utility, for they have
been abandoned as working animals.
''But there, almost In the midst Of the
lake, is something which at first glance
Is seen to be inanimate; it remains mo-
Gonless, and but for its rigid immobilitv
1t might be suspected to be a gigantic
aquatic fowl about to spread white and
immense wings.
Descending by the slope Of the al
most oval basin in whose depths lies the
lake, it Is seen that the object penetrates
far beneath the surface, that It increases
In size, and when one reaches the margin
Of the liquid element it assumes its cor
reot shape; tits a church, That strange
thing which We see from afar is the
cupOla Of the tower, crowned by a cross.
Now may be distinguished perfectly
within the liquid mass, which has crvs-
talline transparency, the body of the
church, It's roof, the main portal, the
window Of the choir, the belfry openings
ali as in a phantasmagoric diorama
whose lens is the surface OF the serene
lake.
"But how is it that it is an artificial
-l-a-I Jul ACuA-1A6 Wall daAa w no LldtLG
it, and why? How came the church TO
be theref What is, OF what was Tequez-
quitengO? We viii proceed to satisfy,
as well as we may, their curiosity, by re-
lating the history Of the lake as we heard
it from the mouth Of some friends living
In the neighborhOod, as we stood on the
margin Of Tequezqutengo several years
ago
''FOrty years have passed since there
nestled In the bottom OF the valley the
pretty villegs Of Tequezquitengo, where
bull fights and cocking-mains took place
on the occasion of the festival annually
held in honor Of the saint Of the place
by its natives and their neighbors. Be
side the raising Of the grain and vege-
tables, the cultivation Of fruit and the
breeding Of cattle, the principal resource
OF the inhabitants consisted in the col
lection of tequeZquite, as they call sn
impure seEquicarbOnate OF soda, pro-
duced IN abundant differences in the low
est part Of the little valley, where the
rains, alternately collecting and evapo-
rating, formed a little lagoon. On the
margin OF this, as it dried, the material
was found.
''Ihe neighboring hacienda Of San
Jose, a beautiful estate, conducts the
water for the irrigation Of its sugar cane
fields by an Rcqueduct OF six or seven
leagues in length. This water is Of con
siderable volume and it formerly flowed
away in the opposite direction to Tequez-
4uitengO, emptying at Pueute ne Ixtla
into the stream formed at that point by
the junction of the TembeIabe and
Chalma. For some reason, now IN
known, the administrator Of San Jose
changed the course Of this stream into
the valley, whence, by reason Of It's
slopes OF nearly equal height on all
sides, the waters found no exit. The
little lagoon began to increase In size.
1t first invaded the grain fields and gar
dens, then the frst houses Of the village.
then the church; rising and rising until
1t finally desOlated the entire place. The
unhappy inhabitants LED from their ma
tive pueblo, which now may be seen like
an enchanted memory as It rests In the
depths Of the lake. Two miserable huts
standing near the bank we're all that re-
manned when we visited the spot. The
lake continued to expand and 20 rise In
level year by year until eight or ten
years ago, when il reached its maximum
by attaining an equilibrium between the
quantity Of water entering and that lost
by evaporation and utilization. The
shape of the surface is that Of an oval,
whose length and breadth are something
like two miles and L, to 1 ] respectively.
The maximum depth is said TO measure