178 



PASS OF THE CRUZ DEL MARQUES. 



grief and disappointment, and return to their ordinary 

 gayety and good humour. 

 But, en avant ! 



The day had hardly dawned, when riding past the pic- 

 turesque church of San Augustin, we were to be seen 

 commencing the ascent of the mountains in the rear, by 

 the great route of the Cruz del Marques, by which com- 

 munication is kept up between the valley of Mexico and 

 the states towards the Pacific to the west and southwest. 

 It is impassable for carriages ; and the whole trade is 

 carried on by means of vast trains of mules. As we as- 

 cended, the morning broke over the summits of the 

 mountains of Tlaloc, brightening the snows of the volca- 

 noes, and gradually lighting up the barren tract of the 

 pedrigal to the left, and the vast extent of plain, and the 

 lakes of Xochimilco and Chalco, which lay behind us. 

 The huge flanks of the Ajusco soon hid the part of the 

 valley in which the capital is situated from our view. 



Again and again, as we ascended, we turned to look 

 back upon this scene, and it was with something like 

 grief I saw it vanish for ever from my eyes. It seemed 

 to me as if a splendid volume had been laid before me, 

 and that I had been permitted to glance at its title and 

 decorations, but had seen it shut in my face just as I had 

 addressed myself to read. 



Some hours elapsed before we reached the summit of 

 the pass. 



The road winds over the unequal surface of the moun- 

 tain for many leagues before it passes the shoulder of the 

 Ajusco. That noble mountain rises to the right, with 

 sides clothed with dark pine forests, and furrowed by 

 deep barrancas. From its highest summit, the height of 

 which I have elsewhere indicated, it is said that the 

 Western Ocean in the vicinity of Acapulco can be dis- 

 tinguished. On the most elevated ridge of the sierra, 

 many short truncated cones mark the different craters 

 by which the floods of lava, and beds of pumice, pebbles, 



