170 



SIX MONTHS IN MEXICO. 



means of obtaining the whole. Near the village 

 I found two kinds of potatoes, but without bul- 

 bous roots, growing wild, and in the woods 

 strawberries of fine flavour, as well as goose- 

 berries, currants, and abundance of grapes, 

 and the scarlet kidney-bean, with its bright 

 red blossom, in every hedge. Passing through 

 Tolluca, we reached Lerma early, and got a 

 comfortable supper ; but the next morning 

 being Sunday, our landlady as usual refused 

 us our breakfast till we had been to church. 

 We arrived at the hacienda within fifteen 

 miles of Mexico, and dined on very fine frogs 

 from the lake. I thought them superior to 

 those of Europe; to my friends they were 

 new, but they seemed to make their acquaint- 

 ance with much satisfaction. We now de- 

 scended the mountains that bound the valley, 

 with the rich prospect of the lakes and city 

 before us; and in the afternoon observed 

 a most curious and beautiful phenomenon. 



