MOEELOS. 135 



The village of Jlcde/liii, nine or ten miles south of Yera Cruz,. reeiiHs the visit 

 of Cortes, who in 1522 named this place after his native town in Estremadura. 

 The railway is continued beyoud this place s<iuth-westwards across the dunes and 

 forests to the port oiAlvarado, on the north side of a large estuary where converge 

 the Papaloapan and other streams. The port, which is encircled by high sand- 

 hills, is accessible to vessels drawing eight or ten feet. Plere is chiefly shipped 

 dried fish cured in large quantities by the fisliermen who comprise, nearly the 

 whole population. These fishermen are said to be descended from Spaniards who 

 took part in the battle of Lepanto, the anniversary of which victory is still solemnly 

 kept. The local skippers also vis'it the p )rt of TlacoUapam; the " City of Mos- 

 quitoes," which is situated at the confluence of the two navigable Rivers Papa- 

 loapan and San Juan. 



MoRELCxs, Guerrero,, and Oaxaca. 



The section of the republic lying south of the great volcanic chain, comprises 

 only the three States of Morelos, Guerrero and Oaxaca, together with parts of 

 Mexico and Puebla. Although all the inhabitants of this region, whites. Mestizoes 

 and even Indians, took an active part in the war of independence, their countrv 

 has remained far more secluded from the general industrial and commercial move- 

 ment than the other provinces. South of Morelos- and Yautepec no railway has 

 yet been constructed down to the Pacific, and all the feeders of the general system 

 stop within a short distance of the plateau. But whenever they become connected 

 with the rest of Mexico these southern provinces, abounding as they do in natural 

 resources, will scarcely continue to lag behind the other states; for their inhabi- 

 tants are amongst the most energetic and industrious, and at the same time the 

 most upright in the whole commonwealth. They have also the advantage of 

 possessing on their seaboard the best harbour in Mexico. 



Caeniavaca, capital of Morelos, is not a Spanish foundation, as might be 

 supposed from the name, which is a corruption of the Aztec Cnnuhnahuac. 

 Communicating directly with Mexico, through a pass running east of the Cerro 

 de Ajusco, this ancient city lies on the Pacific slope about 2,000 feet below 

 the federal capital and consequently in the temperate zone. Its lovely oasis of 

 verdure is enclosed on three sides by profound ravines, and its climate is one of the 

 mildest and most equable in the republic ; all the plants of West Europe here 

 flourish side bv side with those of the torrid zone. Eernan Cortes made a good 

 choice when he asked for the fief of this valley, where his castle is now replaced by 

 the municipal palace. South-west of this place stands the best- preserved Aztec 

 fortress in the re^^ublic, the so-called Xochieako, or " Castle of Flowers." It 

 occupies an isolated hill 386 feet high, which is encircled by trenches cut in such a 

 way as to form five successive terraces with s'epsof dressed stone. The whole struc- 

 ture presents the appearance of a truncated pyramid, with its four sides exactly 

 facing the cardinal points. Its basaltic porphyry blocks, all brought from a distance, 

 are embellished with hieroglyphics and figures in relief, amongst others those of 

 fantastic animals with human or saurian heads, seated cross-legged, Asiatic fashion. 



