88 



Rio Frio, and the peak of Telapon f . This 

 plain, fertile though destitute of trees, is rich in 

 memorials interesting to Mexican history. In 

 it flourished the capitals of the three republics 

 of Tlascalla, Huexocingo, and Cholula, which, 

 notwithstanding their continual dissensions, re- 

 sisted with no less firmness the despotism and 

 usurping spirit of the Azteck kings. 



The small city of Cholula, which Cortez, in 

 his Letters to Charles V, compares with the 

 most populous cities of Spain, contains at pre- 

 sent scarcely sixteen thousand inhabitants. The 

 pyramid is to the east of the city, on the road 

 which leads from Cholula to Puebla. It is well 

 preserved on the western side, which is that 

 represented in the engraving. The plain of 

 Cholula presents that aspect of barrenness, which 

 is peculiar to plains elevated two thousand two 

 hundred metres above the level of the ocean. 

 A few plants of the agave and dracsena rise on 

 the foreground, and at a distance the summit of 

 the volcano of Orizaba is beheld covered with 

 snow ; a colossal mountain, five thousand two 

 hundred and ninety-five metres of absolute 

 height, and of which I have published a sketch 

 in my Mexican Atlas, plate 17. 



The teocalli of Cholula has four stories, all of 



* See niv Mexican Atlas,, pi. Ill and JX. 



