MOUNTAIN SCENERY. 109 



soon passed, a structure two hundred feet long and ninety 

 feet high. The Hne was now constantly ascending, circling 

 about the mountains and passing over several small bridges. 

 Soon the passengers flocked to the rear platform to obtain 

 a sight of the grand view afforded from this point. The 

 glittering domes of the City of Mexico were seen in the 

 distance; farther away, to the left, were seen the two large 

 expanses of water, lakes Chalco and Texcoco, looking like 

 burnished silver in the morning sunlight; far beyond, rising 

 spectre-like, were the lonely peaks of Ixtaccihuatl and 

 Popocatepetl. About them floated beautiful clouds, 

 tinted in many colors by the sun's rays. Soon this was 

 shut out by a tunnel, and for a time we saw nothing but 

 cultivated fields and bare rocks. Here the natives had 

 taken advantage of every spot, where there was a particle 

 of earth, for agricultural purposes. 



At La Ci'ma, the summit, we reached the highest point, 

 10,000 feet above the sea. A little farther on we reached 

 Sdlazar, built on a plain, where a halt was made for ten 

 minutes. Here the air was quite crisp, and one felt the 

 need of thick wraps. Here, also, the beggars again assailed 

 us, and during the entire ten minutes we were not for a 

 moment out of sight of one of these mendicants. One, in 

 particular, had an old, battered violin. He was blind, and 

 was led about by a boy, probably his son. One does not 

 like giving to these beggars, since so many of them are 

 frauds, and prey upon the travellers in this way as a regular 

 means of livelihood. The descent into the Toluca Valley 

 now began. On our right a clear, babbling brook was 

 seen, the headwaters of the river Lerma; this stream 

 went leaping and dancing down the mountain, the track 

 crossing it in several places. 



A short distance farther on, the beautiful valley of 

 Toluca burst on our view. At the foot of the mountain the 



