134 



PENON VIEJO. 



April, to make an excursion of a few days in the envi- 

 rons of the capital. 



Accordingly, on the 8th of that month, for the especial 

 solace and service of the invalid of the party, a huge un- 

 wieldy Mexican stage carriage, swinging to and fro upon 

 its scaffolding, drove majestically up to the door of the 

 Gran Sociedad, at the heels of ten mules, furnished with 

 faded trappings and harness, and with tail pieces of brass- 

 studded leather, shaped exactly like a beaver's trowel. 

 M'Euen and myself on horseback, backed by our two 

 equeries Garcias and Mariano, (the latter a new ac- 

 quisition,) acted as escort. All were, of course, armed 

 to the teeth, and felt very valiant. Two mozos presided 

 over the mules. 



The coach was, by-the-by, not so much amiss ; for it 

 was of a strength of construction, which might have 

 made it available as a temporary citadel, on a pinch — 

 and once put in motion, it went lumbering over the pave- 

 ment, and out of the gate of San Lazaro, to the new 

 calzada, leading towards the mountains beyond the 

 southern limits of the Lake Tezcuco. 



The morning was splendidly bright, and the air of 

 matchless purity. 



The causeway runs straight towards the volcanic mass, 

 called the Penon Viejo, situated on the ancient shore of 

 the lake to the south, and which is to be distinguished 

 from the other penon of similar origin, containing the 

 hot baths, and lying between the city and the lake. 



For many miles we continued by its aid to traverse a 

 range of wide-spread flats, from which the waters of the 

 lake have long retired, leaving a surface but indifferently 

 calculated for cultivation, from the spongy character of 

 the soil, and the carbonate of soda forming upon its sur- 

 face. The higher portions are subjected to a rude system 

 of drainage and agriculture ; and numerous herds of 

 cattle were scattered over it. 



We found Penon Viejo to be a huge discoloured mass 

 of fused matter, abounding in caverns; and displaying 

 throughout the play of the fierce element, to whose 

 action it owes its elevation from the abyss. 



