Promenade de Bitcarelli. 137 



along which are stone benches. The whole place is traversed 

 by numerous walks, formed by different shady trees, and em- 

 bellished with flower-beds and a number of fountains, amongst 

 which are two ornamented with statues, and otherwise in a taste- 

 ful manner. 



Though the grounds looked somewhat neglected, the Alam- 

 eda is a very agreeable place, of which the Mexicans are rather 

 proud. It is especially interesting in the morning, w'hen the 

 ladies returning from church, and the gentlemen from their 

 promenades on horseback, meet in the shady avenues, talking 

 and flirting, or sitting ofe the benches to listen to the music of 

 the French band, which played several days in the week from 

 eight until ten o'clock. Most of the popular festivals, for inst- 

 ance, Independence Day — September 13 — are celebrated in 

 the Alameda. 



Another fashionable promenade for carriages and equestrians, 

 the Rotton Row of Mexico, is the Promenade de Bucarelli, so 

 called because it was inaugurated by the Viceroy, Antonio 

 Maria BucarelH, in 1778 ; now it is more frequently called II 

 Paseo Nuevo. It is a very long avenue, formed b) four rows 

 of ugly, crippled trees. The carriage-road in t}ie middle, and 

 those at each side of it for equestrians, are badly kept. There 

 are some fountains with rather ugly statues, and also a large 

 equestrian bronze statue of Charles IV. of Spain, made by the 

 sculptor, Don Manule Tolsa. The Mexicans imagine that it 

 is the most perfect statue ui the world, and it is indeed a credit- 

 able work. It is more than five yards high, and stands on a 

 pedestal of stone, and within an iron railing. It was at first 

 placed on the great square, but lest it might be destroyed by 

 the people it was removed by the Government to a less exposed 

 place and finally transported, in 1852, to the Paseo Nuevo. 



Not far from this statute we find the Plaza de Toros, a cir- 

 cular wooden building of seventy yards diameter, with two 

 tiers of boxes and seven rows of benches, where ten thousand 

 persons may find room. The building looks quite elegant 

 with its many columns. The first bull-fight in Mexico w^as 

 held in the time of Fernando Cortez. 



The beau-monde of Mexico drive there in the afternoon, at 

 six o'clock. It is indeed a caricature of Hyde Park, for 

 scarcely any decent carriages are to be seen, and many of them 

 look as if they had been built at the time of the Conquest. 



