68 SIX MONTHS IK MEXICO. 



security from attack is, in erecting a house, 

 the first consideration. 



Perote is 12,000 toises above the level of 

 the sea, and just under the mountain of that 

 name. We were driven into the court-yard 

 of an extensive Posada or inn, but very dif- 

 ferent indeed from houses of accommodation 

 of this description in England, though a large 

 square, surrounded by a colonnade, seemed to 

 bespeak a place of some comfort. We arrived 

 shivering with cold, though wrapped up in 

 our great coats, but no landlord nor waiter 

 greeted our arrival ; we were at last shown 

 several apartments, and had, indeed, our 

 choice; but not an article of furniture was 

 visible, except benches to sleep on, and a 

 huge table, that seemed coeval with the build- 

 ing. We procured a candle, but the luxury 

 of a candlestick was out of the question : a 

 hole in the table, round which the melted 



