PUEBLA, CHOLULA. 127 



reign of Maximilian there was even a question of removing the administration to 

 Puebla, which enjoys a far more healthy climate and lies in a more fertile region 

 than Mexico. It stands at an altitude of 7,160 feet, that is, something less than 

 the federal capital, on an inclined plain, whose rapid streams flow westwards to 

 the Mexcala, which winds away to the Pacific. All these rivulets are fed by the 

 melting snows, and serve to irrigate the surrounding plains, which yield abundant 

 crops of all sorts. Dominated by the two square towers of its sumptuous cathedral 

 and by the belfries of over fifty churches, Puebla was formerly inhabited by a 

 fanatic-il population extremely hostile to strangers ; more than once travellers had 

 to. seek the protection of the troops to avoid being stoned as " Englishmen," 

 "Jews " or " heretics." The place is noted especially for its rehozos, or scarfs, its 

 cotton yarns, and for the preparation of little figures in wax or alabaster, sculptured 

 vases, Onyx stands, and similar objects connected principally with church decora- 

 tion. Lying about midway between Mexico and the edge of the plateau, Puebla 

 formerly stood on the main rovite of nearly all the transit traffic between the inte- 

 rior and Vera Cruz. But it has lost this commanding position since the opening 

 of the main railway from Vera Cruz to the capital, though still connected with 

 the general system by branches running eastward, west of the JNlalinche volcano. 

 Puebla owes its prosperity to its great agricultural resources. It also promises to 

 become a much-frequented health resort, especially for strangers suffering from affec- 

 tions of the chest ; in the neighbourhood are copious sulphurous thermal springs, 

 which probably owe their special properties to the volcanic deposits of Popocatepetl. 

 The two steep hills of Guadalupe and Loreto, rising north-east and north of Puebla, 

 recall the two most important military events in the modern records of the nation. 

 During the war undertaken against Mexico for the restoration of the monarchy, 

 General de Lorencez, after forcing the passes and reaching the edge of the plateau at 

 the head of 6,000 men, had sent off a despatch announcing that he was already "master 

 of Mexico." But right in front of Puebla he found the route blocked by a force 

 of 12,000 troops, under Zaragoza, which held possession of the city and of the two 

 fortified convents on the hills. The attack made on May 5th, 1862, ended in failure, 

 and the French invading army had to retreat to the lower slopes of the plateau. 

 Next year an army 20,000 strong again advanced on Puebla, and began a 

 regular siege of the place. The investment lasted Q2 days, during which the 

 Mexican garrison defended every post and station, yielding only after exhausting 

 ammunition and supplies, and then partly dispersing to join the troop»s that held 

 the plains. 



Although a large place, Puebla is still inferior in size 1 o the famous city of 

 CholuJa, which formerh' stood in the neighbourhood. This holy city of the Olmecs 

 and later of the Aztecs, at one time centre of the (extile and pottery industries 

 of Anahuac, and founder of the colonies as f\ir south as Nicaragua, is now an obscure 

 village and railway-station eight miles from Puebla on the ojiposite side of the 

 deep gorge traversed by the Rio Atoyac. Churultecal, as Cortes calls it, is described 

 by him as containing 20,000 houses in the central part, and an equal number 

 in the outskirts. "From the summit of one of the temples," he adds, "I 



