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G SIX MONTHS IN MEXICO. 



approached. All crowded to the deck, and 

 every telescope was in requisition; distant 

 mountains had been in sight some hours ; it 

 was not, however, till a sudden clearing of 

 the mist, that a general cry of " Orizaba" 

 burst from the quarter deck. I called to my 

 son, who was looking out from the mast-head, 

 he replied he had been viewing it with the 

 same wonder as ourselves; but on directing 

 his eye more to the west, he observed a part 

 of the sun that was considerably above the 

 clouds, obscured by something that gave it 

 the appearance of being eclipsed, when, in a 

 tone of astonishment, he exclaimed, " Orizaba 

 is between us and the sun." On a sudden, its 

 towering peak, black with its own shadow, 

 and appearing in the mid heavens, became 

 distinctly perceptible to the naked eye, whilst 

 its base, and three-fourths of its height, were 

 invisible from the distance. Thus enveloped 

 in clouds, one of the most solemn effects I 



