58 



THE CANADA. 



But, however great our annoyance, nothing was able 

 to damp the spirit of enthusiasm with which we found 

 ourselves inspired. Soon after leaving the village, the 

 huge precipices which towered on both sides, closed in 

 upon the stream, and threw the road into deep shadow ; 

 and we were not long in discovering, that beautiful as the 

 scenery had been, we were to see it on a yet grander scale, 

 and clothed with yet greater magnificence. The most 

 sublime part of the defile of the Canada is that which ex- 

 tends two or three leagues above Tlacolula. A moun- 

 tain of very great elevation appears literally cloven in 

 twain from the very summit to the foundation ; display- 

 ing immense perpendicular sheets of white rock, the in- 

 numerable lamina of which are twisted and gnarled like 

 the roots of a tree. A wilderness of the richest tropical 

 vegetation clothes the partial slopes, and chokes up the 

 depths of the defile. The gorge varies from five hun- 

 dred to one hundred feet in breadth. 



The continuation of the road where the great defile 

 terminates, presents fine, but in general more open 

 scenery. The mule path for several leagues follows a 

 tortuous track, now on the sides of the steep acclivities, 

 and then to and fro on the side of the river, which has 

 now decreased greatly in size, till it leads you insensi- 

 bly to the foot of the Monte Penulco. 



The road at this season was rendered lively by the 

 strings of mules, laden with the produce of the table 

 land, which take advantage of the dry season to reach 

 the coast by the Canada, though I cannot say that they 

 add to the safety of the narrow pathway, as it is not al- 

 ways easy to pass without running a certain degree of 

 risk. In the wet season, of course the road in the defile 

 is impracticable, and the cuchillo, or ridge of the moun- 

 tain, is then followed. 



Early in the afternoon we now began to descry 

 patches of pine forest, and the river forking, we followed 

 the branch to the right, till we reached the foot of the 

 broad and well-constructed road, which, leaving the de- 

 files, leads the traveller up the precipitous sides of the 

 mountain. A series of turns and zigzags, conducted upon 



