22 A GUIDE TO MEXICO. 



The nearest suburb is Guadalupe, reached by tramway (two miles), where is the 

 famous sanctuary to the Virgin Guadalupe, begun in 1632, and built at a cost of 

 $Soo,ooo; gifts to which, including sixty lamps of silver and a silver tabernacle, 

 reached a fabulous amount. A chapel on the hill above was built about a hun- 

 dred years later : it overlooks the spot where the Virgin is said to have appeared 

 to an Indian, in 1531, and there is here a fine mineral spring. The famous blanket 

 with the miraculous image of the Virgin stamped upon it, the battle-flag of 

 Hidalgo, and the bones of some good viceroys, are deposited in the temple. An 

 annual pilgrimage is made here Dec. 12, when all the Indians assemble to do 

 homage to the only Indian saint in the calendar. The treaty of 1848, between the 

 United States and Mexico, was signed here. 



On the other side of the city is Chapultepec, with the finest groves of cypress 

 in the country, surrounding a low hill upon which is perched the castle, stormed 

 by the Americans in 1847, occupied by Maximilian, and now used as an astro- 

 nomical observatory. One of the great aqueducts supplying Mexico starts from 

 here ; the other, from El Desierto, a delightful wood fifteen miles from the city. 

 Molino del Rey is just back of Chapultepec ; Churubusco is on the main diligence 

 road to the south ; Contreras and the Pedregal (other points famous in the Mexican 

 ■war) are near San Angel, reached by tramway, as also is Tacubaya, a suburban 

 town with gardens and fine views. The bull-ring, where fights go on every Sunday 

 and feast-day, is just outside the limits of the Federal district, about one and one- 

 half miles from Chapultepec. Tacuba, a small town on the northern causeway, is 

 reached by tramway from the Plaza Mayor. At Popotla, a near village, is the 

 sacred tree of Noche Triste, beneath which, it is said, Cortes sat him down, and 

 wept at his great losses, when driven from the city in 1520. The American ceme- 

 tery, the aqueduct, and the bridge of Alvarado, are all on this road, near which, 

 before the city limits are passed, is the Cemetario of San Fernando, with its 

 honored dead. The baths, hot and mineral, of El Penon. are about two miles 

 from the city, beyond the San Lazaro gate ; while most extensive ones, with every 

 convenience, are near the Grand Paseo. 



The various bazaars, with their thousand and one curios., are a never-ending 

 source of entertainment, also the stores of the silversmiths, dealers in wax figures, 

 sombreros and sarapes : they are everywhere, and need not be designated. 



Historic Tezcoco, seat of ancient empire, place whence Cortes invested Mexico, 

 containing some ruins of interest, is reached by rail by the Ferrocarril Interoceanko, 

 in an hour and a half; Chalco, almost equally celebrated, in two hours; by the 

 same road, Amecameca, in three hours and a half, — an attractive town, with a cele- 

 brated Sacro Monte (or sacred mount). Here the trail is taken for the summit 

 of Popocatepetl^ highest volcano in Mexico, fifteen miles distant. Taking the 

 morning train, making arrangements in Ameca with the- merchants BToriega 

 Mijares, for horses, donkeys, guides, and provisions, one can ascend to the rancho 

 at the snow-limit, before night, thence to the peak, and return next day, if desired. 

 For a mountain of its height, Popocatepetl is comparatively easy of ascent; yet it 

 will be best to provide one's self with a stout staff, heavy shoes, colored glasses, and 

 abundant provisions. For further details, the reader is referred to "Travels in 

 Mexico," Chap. XX. There are three hotels in Ameca, — Ferrocarril, Barcelona, 

 and Neria. 



The most conspicuous ancient monuments near Mexico city are the Pyramids 



