118 A NATURALIST IN MEXICO. 



founders Valladolid, but renamed by the Mexicans, after 

 the revolution of 1810, Morelia, in honor of the patriot 

 Morelos. This city is well known as being one of the most 

 beautiful of the Republic. 



At 10:15 p. M. we reached the little despot at Patzcuaro, 

 situated about two miles from the town, which was reached 

 by a rambling diligence. The road from the d($pot to the 

 town was paved with small boulders, which nearly shook 

 our coach to pieces. No sort of torture could be greater 

 than this, in the shaky old stage coach. We arrived at the 

 Fonda Concordia about an hour and a half later, and se- 

 cured a good room, and also a cup of coffee, an omelet, and 

 some fruit. 



Patzcuaro is situated two hundred and seventy-four 

 miles from Mexico, — at an elevation of 7,200 feet above the 

 sea, — and lies in a hollow, two miles from the lake of the 

 same name, which is only visible from certain elevations in 

 the town. If it lay in full view of the lake, it would have 

 one of the most beautiful situations possible. The town is 

 primitive and solid, and as yet very little affected by inter- 

 course with the outside world. It has a large plaza, 

 shaded by mountain ash trees, and surrounded by arcades 

 and colonnades, in which are the shops of the merchants. 

 The roofs of the town are tiled, and most of the houses, 

 being of one story, have projecting cornices of wood, with 

 supporting beams. The town is irregular and hilly, but all 

 paved very roughly. On the highest elevation is a plaza, — 

 the third in the town, — planted with noble trees, and 

 fronted by the grim walls of an old monastery. Every- 

 where are signs of a former haughty ecclesiastical denomi- 

 nation, now scattered and in contempt. In the lower plaza 

 is situated the market, where, as is common with Mexican 

 markets, — everything manufactured in the immediate neigh- 

 borhood can be purchased . It has been prophesied that at no 



