312 INTENDANCY OF PUEBLA. 



CHAT. XXIV. to complete the work ; the canal not being opened in 

 Completion its whole length until 1789. As it now appears, it is 

 of the canal, stated by Humboldt to be one of the most gigantic hy- 

 draulic operations executed by man. Its length is 67,537 

 feet, its greatest depth 197, and its greatest breadth 361. 

 Precarious The safety of the capital depends, 1st, On the stone 



^t^y * °^ dikes which prevent the water of the lake of Zumpango 

 from passing into that of San Christobal, and the latter 

 from flowing into the Tezcuco ; 2d, On the dikes and 

 sluices which prevent the lakes of Chalco and Xochi- 

 milco from ovei-flowing ; 3d, On the great cut of Enrico 

 ]\Iartinez, by which the Rio de Guautitlan passes across 

 the hills into the valley of Tula ; and, 4th, On the 

 canals by wliich tlie Zumpango and San Christobal may 

 be completely drained. These means, however expen- 

 sive and numerous as they must appear, are insufficient 

 to secure it against inundations proceeding from the 

 north and north-west ; and our author asserts, that it will 

 continue exposed to great risks until a canal sliall Ixj 

 directly opened from the lake of Tezcuco. 

 Towns of the The intendancy of Mexico contains, besides the capital, 

 intendency. ggyeral towns of considerable size, of which the more 

 important are, Tezcuco, Acapulco,Toluca, and Queretaro, 

 the latter having a population of thirty -five thousand. 

 Government 2. The government of Puebla is wholly situated in 

 of Puebu. j_]jg torrid zone, and is bounded on the nortli-east by that 

 of Vera Cruz, on the south by the ocean, on the east by 

 the province of Oaxaca, and on the west by that of 

 Mexico. It is traversed by the cordilleras of Anahuac, 

 and contains the highest mountain in New Spain, the 

 volcano of Popocatepetl. A great portion, howevei', 

 consists of an elevated plain, on which are cultivated 

 wheat, maize, agave, and fruit-trees. 

 Ancient The pojiulation is concentrated on this table-land, ex- 



rcmains. tending from the eastern slope of the Nevados, or Snowy 

 Mountains, to tlie vicinity of Perote. It exhibits re- 

 markable vestiges of ancient Mexican civilisatiou. Tlie 

 great pyramid of Cliolula has a much larger base than 

 any ediiice of tlie kind in the Old Continent, its horizontal 



