204 SIX MONTHS IN MEXICO. 



ceeding, amidst huge masses of solid and com- 

 pact lava, which rose on all sides and in every 

 form: yet among these masses many neat 

 cottages were seen, surrounded with an ap- 

 pearance of plenty not often met with in such 

 situations. When we came to the top of the 

 hill, such a scene presented itself as I can 

 convey no idea of by description. If I was 

 surprised in passing the crater of the volcano, 

 in my way to Perote, I was perfectly asto- 

 nished here at beholding the contents pro- 

 bably of that very crater before me, filling 

 an extensive valley, of many leagues in 

 length, with an immense sea of melted lava, 

 which, from the slope of the mountain that 

 bounded it, I should judge in several places 

 to be many hundred fathoms thick, convert- 

 ing what had been a deep valley into a vast 

 plain of solid rock, on whose surface the 

 marks of its progress and violent agitation, 

 when in a state of fusion, are as fresh as if 



