MEXICO 



179 



Mexico. 



Bx'.ent. 



gurf 



lakeTezcuco, whose bason, surrounded with villages and 

 hamlet-, bring* to mind the mot beautiful lakes oi' the 

 mountains of Switzerland. Large avenues of elms and 

 poplars lead in every direction to the capital ; and two 

 aqueducts, constructed over arches of very great eleva- 

 tion, cross the plain, and exhibit an appearance equally 

 agreeable and interesting. The magnificent convent of 

 NeustraSonoradeGnadalupeappears joined tothc moun- 

 tains of Tapeyacac, among ravines, which shelter a few 

 dates and young yucca trees. Townrds the south, tin- 

 whole track between San Angel Tacabaya, and San 

 Augusta de Us Cuevas, appears an immense garden of 

 orange, peach, apple, cherry, and other European fruit- 

 trees. This beautiful cultivation forms a singular contrast 

 with the wild appearance of the naked mountains, which 

 enclose the valley, among whic-h the famous volcano* 

 of I'urbla Popocatepetl, and Iztaccicihuiitl are the most 

 'u-d. The first of these forms an enormous 

 cone, of which the crater, continually inflamed and 

 throwing up smoke and ashes, opens in the midst of 

 eternal snows." See Robertson's Hiitory of America, 

 and Htimboldt's Ktiay am Pfew Spain, (a) 



- Nrw SPAIN, is one of the nine great 



jovernments into which the Spanish possessions in 



America are divided ; and is by far the most important 



of them all, both on account of its territorial wealth and 



it* favourable position for commercial communications. 



Its Indian name, Mexico, signifies in the Aztec lan- 



guage, the habitation of the god of war ; ami the de- 



signation of New Spain, first applied in 1518 to the pro. 



of Yucatan, and afterwards to the whole empire 



of Montezuma, now includes all the extent of country 



over which the viceroy of Mexico exercises his autho- 



rity, lying between the I Oth and 38th degrees of north 



latitude : but the kingdom or captain-genera Uhip of 



Guatimala, is considered a distinct government, and i* 



gam ally excluded from the proper territories of Mexico. 



In this more limited view, then, the kingdom of New 



Spain extends from tlie Kith to the 38th degree of north 



latitude, about 610 leagues in length, and 364 at its 



greatest breadth. One half of its whole surface is si- 



tuated under the burning sky of the tropics, and the 



other under the temperate zone : but, from the singular 



elevation of the ground above the level of the sea, near- 



ly three- fifths of the country under the torrid zone en- 



aodj ? * temperate instead of a -i ite. The whole 



interior of the viceroyaltv of Mexico forms one immense 



plain, elevated from 6560 to 8200 feet above the level 



of the neighbouring seat, extending from the 18th to 



the 40th degree of north latitude. The descent from 



this central table land towards Acapnlro, on the west 



coast, i* a regular piogiBM from a cold to a hot climate, 



by a road which may be made fit for carriages ; while 



on the east coast to Vera Cruz, the descent is short and 



rapid, passable only by mules, but likely to be toon 



rendered accessible for carriages, by the construction of 



a superb causeway, which was begun about the com- 



mencement of the present century. From Mexico to 



New Bi-cay , the plain preserves an equal elevation, and 



lies under a climate rather cold than temperate; and 



it is only the coast* of this vast kingdom which pos- 



ses* a warm climate, adapted for the productions of the 



Indies. The mem temperature of these plain*, 



which arc ituated within the tropics, and not more 



than 98* feet above the level of the wa, and which 



are called by the natives Terras Calientes, is about 



77* of Fahrenheit. On the eastern coast, the great 



heats are occasionally interrupted by strata of cold air 



bought by the winds from Hudson's Bay, from Octo. 



ber to March, and which frequently cool the atmo- Meiico. 

 sphere to such a degree that the thermometer of Fah- "^^f"^ 1 

 renheit stands at 60 at Vera Cruz ; but, on the west- 

 ern coast, in the town and neighbourhood of Aca- 

 pulco, the climate is the hottest and most unhealthy in 

 the world. On the declivity of the Cordillera, at tlie 

 elevation of 8930 to 4920 feet, there prevail* perpetual- 

 ly a soft spring temperature, seldom varying more than 

 seven or nine degrees, and where the extremes of heat 

 and cold are equally unknown. This region is called 

 the Tierras Templadas, in which the mean temperature 

 of the whole year is from 68 to 70 of Fahrenheit ; but 

 the clouds, which ascend above the lower plains, usually 

 settle on this height, and occasion frequent thick fogs. 

 The third zone, called Terras Frias, comprehends the 

 plains which are elevated more than 7200 feet, and of 

 which the mean temperature is under 62. In the plains 

 whieh are still more elevated, even to the height of 

 8800 feet, the climate, even within the tropics, is rude 

 and chill, the "heat during a great part of the day never 

 riatng to more than 51* or 55. The winters here are 

 not indeed extremely boisterous ; but the sun, even in 

 summer, has not sufficient power in the rarified atmo- 

 sphere to accelerate vegetation and bring fruits to ma- 

 turity. In general the equinoctial regions of New Spain 

 resemble the temperate tones in soil and climate and 

 vegetation ; but, in the central table land, the tem- 

 perature i* extremely cold in winter. The region of 

 perpetual snow in the 1 J)th and 20th degrees of latitude, 

 commences at about 15,000 feet of elevation; and, in 

 the month of January, descends to about 12,000 ; but 

 there are occasional fall* of snow between the parallels 

 of 18 and 22 at the height of 9840 feet, and even the 

 town* of Mexico and Valladolid, whieh are more than 

 800 and 300 feet lower. From the 22 to the 30 of 

 north latitude, the rains fall only in the months of June, 

 July, August, and September ; but, even then, are not 

 frequent in the interior of the country. The declivities 

 of the Cordillera are exposed to humid winds am) Ire- 

 fogs ; and the tea coasts receive immense quanti- 

 ties of rain from the month of June to September. With 

 the exception of a few sea-ports and deep vallies, where 

 intermittent fevers prevail, the climate of New Spain 

 may be accounted remarkably salubrious. 



On each coast, the low grounds are intersected by Mountain* 

 very inconsiderable hills : but, in tlie central plain, be- 

 tween the town of Mexico and the city of Cordova, 

 there are groupes of lofty mountains, equal in height 

 to any in the new continent, particularly those of Popo- 

 catepetl, i. e. the smoke mountain, Izuiccihuatl, i.e. the 

 white woman, Citlaltepetl, i. r. star mountain or the Pic 

 d'< >uzaha, and Nauhcampateptl, i.e. square mountain, 

 or the Cofre de Perote, which are respectively 17,716, 

 15,700, 17,371, and I3,414feet above the level of the sea. 

 To the north of latitude 1 9 the Cordillera takes the name 

 of Sierra Madre, and runs to the north-west. Beyond the 

 chy of Guanajuato, in latitude 'Jl, it becomes of an 

 extraordinary breadth, and divide- into three branches. 

 Of these the most eastern runs in the direction of Char- 

 cas, and loses itself in the new kingdom of Leon. The 

 western branch ; occupying part of the intendancy of 

 Guadalaxara, sinks rapidly after passing Bolanos, and 

 stretches to the banks of the Rio Gila, but acquire* 

 again a considerable height under the 30th parallel, 

 near the Gulf of California, when it forms the moun- 

 tains de la Pimeria Aha, celebrated for the gold wash- 

 ed down from their tide*. The third branch, which 

 may be considered as the central chain of the Mexican 

 Andes, occupies the whole extent of the intendancy of 



