OAXACA—MERIDA. 369 
on the south by Guanaxuato, and on the west by 
Guadalaxara, is 293 miles in length, and 176 in 
breadth. The table-land, which forms its central 
part, is composed of syenite and primitive slate. 
Near Zacatecas are nine small lakes abounding in 
muriate and carbonate of soda. This district is very 
thinly peopled, although the town has 33,000 in- 
habitants. 
7. The intendancy of Oaxaca is one of the most 
delightful countries in the New Continent, possess- 
ing great fertility of soil and salubrity of climate. 
It is bounded on the north by Guatimala; on the 
west by the province of Puebla; and on the south 
by the Pacific Ocean. The mountainous parts are 
composed of granite and gneiss. The vegetation is 
every where exceedingly beautiful. At the village of 
Santa Maria del Tule, ten miles east of the capital, 
there is an enormous trunk of Cupressus disticha, 
118 feet in circumference, though it seems rather to 
be formed of three stems grown into one. 
The most remarkable object in this district is 
the palace of Mitla, the walls of which are deco- 
rated with grecques and labyrinths in mosaic, re- 
sembling the ornaments of Tuscan vases. It con- 
sists of three edifices, and is moreover distinguished 
from other ancient Mexican buildings by six por- 
phyritic columns which support the ceiling of a vast 
hali. These pillars have neither base nor capital ; 
each exhibits a single block of stone, and the height 
is about sixteen feet. Oaxaca, the principal town, 
contained, in the year 1792, twenty-four thousand 
inhabitants. Some of the mines are very productive. 
8. The intendancy of Merida comprehends the 
great peninsula of Yucatan, situated between the 
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