SIX MONTHS IN MEXICO. 127 



of several of the churches are finished in 

 the same manner. The roofs are all nearly 

 flat, and bricked, and many of them are 

 covered with flowers, affording a pleasant 

 place of resort in a fine evening, as the 

 prospect is delightful, and the air refreshing 

 and uncontaminated by smoke. Owing to 

 this species of ornament, the city, seen from 

 an elevation, presents a far more beautiful 

 appearance than any of those of Europe, 

 where the red-tiled deformed roofs, and 

 shapeless stacks of chimnies, are the princi- 

 pal features in the prospect. Indeed, no 

 place I ever saw affords so many interesting 

 points for a panoramic view, independently 

 of its own intrinsic beauty, its interesting 

 architecture, its houses with their light bal- 

 conies, covered parterres of shrubs and flowers, 

 — its situation in the grand valley of Mexico, 

 with its sea-like lakes, surrounded by snow- 

 capped volcanic mountains, the highest in 



