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THE COUNTRY GENERALLY QUIET.

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In July, there were frequent rumors of an approaching insurrection, and the troops were ordered to be in readiness for any emergency. The presence of an additional force ordered to New Mexico, had the tendency to check any movement, if one was in contemplation. Occasional depredations were committed by the Indians, but the Mexicans busied themselves for the most part in securing their crops, and nothing of extraordinary interest occurred during the remainder of the summer, or of the ensuing autumn.

CHAPTER XII.

CONTRERAS AND CHURUBUSCO.

Route from Puebla-The Valley of Mexico-Fortifications--Turning Lake Chalco-Affair at Oka Laka-March of Major Lally from Vera Cruz to Jalapa-Arrival of the American army at San Augustin -Attempt to reach the San Angel road-Crossing the Pedregal-The Night Bivouac-Storming the Intrenchments at Contreras-The Enemy driven from San Antonio-Battle of Churubusco-The Victors at the Gates of the Capital.

GENERAL SCOTT left Puebla, in person, on the 8th of August, and on the same day overtook, and then continued with, the leading division under General Twiggs. The different corps of his army moved forward, en echelon, being at no time beyond five hours, or supporting distance, apart. The city of Mexico is something more than ninety miles from Puebla. The road ascends gradually through a fertile rolling country, checquered with beautiful gardens and hedges of cactus, with fields of maize and plantations of the aloe, until it reaches the tierra fria, or cold region, "the third and last of the great natural terraces into which the country is divided."* Here the feathery palm gives place to the evergreen, and the fruits and vegetation of the tropics, make room for those usually found in more northern climes. Leaving Cholula to the south, on the third day of their march the Americans arrived at the pass of Rio Frio, ten thousand feet above the level

• Prescott's Conquest of Mexico, vol. i. p. 8.

THE VALLEY OF MEXICO.

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of the ocean. Far away to the north extended the mountain crests of Anahuac, and on the other hand rose the lofty peak of Iztaccihuatl, and still further to the left, and towering still higher into the clouds, "the great volcan," Popocatepetl,-the cold bleak winds of winter ever whistling about their summits, and the gentle breezes of an unending summer sporting and playing with the shrubs and flowers that blossom at their feet.*

From Rio Frio the descent is rapid. Shortly after the advance of the army emerged from the pass, and on turning an angle of the mountains, which left their view to the westward entirely unobstructed, the Valley of Mexico burst upon them like some vision of enchantment. Spread out before them, and beneath them, lay the gorgeous panorama, of hill and mountain, grove and forest, river and lake, hamlet and city,-upon which they gazed with emotions similar to those with which Hannibal and his followers looked down from the Alps, over the fair plains of Italy; or those that animated the mail-clad warriors of Cortés, when they sounded their cheering war-cry of "San Jago and San Pedro!" through these wild gorges, or, flushed with victory and conquest, turned their eyes upon the same glorious scenes, beholding, "in the midst,-like some Indian empress with her coronal of pearls,-the fair city of Mexico, with her white towers and pyramidal temples, reposing, as it were, on the bosom of the waters,-the far-famed Venice of the Aztecs! "+

The Valley of Mexico, or Tenochtitlan, as it was called

These two mountains, in former times, were looked upon by the Indians as divinities; Iztaccihuatl, "the white woman," as the name signifies, being regarded, according to their superstition, as the wife of Popocatepetl, or "the hill that smokes." During the past century the latter has rarely been in a state of activity.

Prescott's Conquest of Mexico, vol. ii. p. 51.

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BEAUTIFUL SCENERY.

by the ancient inhabitants, in which the capital is situated, is an irregular, oval basin, about two hundred miles in circumference, inclosed by walls of porphyritic mountains, and surrounded by some of the highest peaks of the Cordilleras. Lying in the centre of the great table land of the country, it is protected alike from the fierce norte, and the rude breezes of the east, by the bold sierras that encircle it. Favored with a most genial temperature, this sunny spot teems with the valuable products, quickened into existence by the warm breath of the tropics, and watered by copious showers of rain, and the torrents that gush forth from the fissures of the neighboring cliffs. Forests of oak and pecan trees adorn the more elevated ground. Here a copse of sycamores, and there a group of tall cypresses, fling their broad shadows over the landscape, lighted by the rays of the burning sun, or the soft bright moon. glossy leaves of the myrtle nestle close beside the pepper tree, whose scarlet berries cast a rich flush over its delicate foliage. Aromatic shrubs load the air with the intoxicating odors that invite the senses to repose, and an endless variety of flowers add their gay and brilliant colors to enhance the beauty of the scene.

The

Just beneath the range of mountains on the east, is the series of lakes which form the most picturesque attraction of the valley, looking up, like the blue eyes of the turquoise, to the azure heavens above them, whose glory they reflect. Pretty gardens are scattered lavishly around them, and smiling villages and haciendas peep out in every direction from the groves in which they are imbosomed. But, conspicuous above all, is the city of Mexico,-containing a population of two hundred thousand souls-the most ancient, as it is the most splendid capital on the Western Continent! Her

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white domes, her Gothic churches, her shady paséos, and her beautiful Alameda; her noble cathedral, whose fretted roof, and groined arches, echo daily with the swelling notes of old Te Deum; and her lofty palaces, with their sculptured façades, and porticos embellished with porphyry and jasper, are the first to attract attention-the first to elicit admiration.

As there is no happiness without its alloy, so there are patches covered with rocks of lava, or masses of scoriæ, occasionally to be found in this lovely valley; and now and then a dark buttress, destitute of vegetation, save, perhaps, a stray creeper, rooted in some crevice, and clambering up its rugged sides,-may be seen projecting from the mountains. Still, it may be questioned, whether these do not, by the very contrast they exhibit, serve to add to, rather than diminish, the beauty that surrounds them. The chinampas,—those floating wildernesses of sweets and blossoms, far surpassing the Alcinas and Morganas of the Italian poets -which dotted the lakes in the time of the conquest, have nearly disappeared. The clearing away of the primeval forests, too, and other influences connected with the improved condition of the country, have caused their waters to recede from their original limits, and

• The chinampas, or floating gardens, were rafts formed of reeds and rushes, and the branches of young trees woven firmly together, which were covered, to the depth of three or four feet, with the alluvial wash of the streams, and the black mould drawn up from the bottom of the shallow lakes. Vegetables, flowers, and small trees, were raised in them, and sometimes they were capable of sustaining a hut for the residence of the gardener. Although they could be pushed through the water without much difficulty, they were usually moored near the shore for safety. This was certainly a rare device to insure the presence of sufficient moisture to counteract the burning heat of a tropical sun.-. Humboldt's Essai Politique, tom. ii. pp. 87, 153.-Murray's Encyclopedia of Geography, pp. 323-4.

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