CUAUTLA AMILPAS. 



193 



prepared in the house of the alcalde, who received and 

 entertained us hospitably, during the hours of our stay. 

 That functionary is obliged, by the laws of the land, to 

 provide a lodging for strangers applying to him for accom- 

 modation, in case that there is no regular inn. Excellent 

 watermelons and ice were to be had in abundance. 



As time was not to be trifled with, we were con- 

 strained, however, after the greatest heikt of the day was 

 spent, to remount our horses, and pursue our route to the 

 town of Cuautla Amilpas, at four leagues distance. The 

 road, for the greater part, runs over the fertile portions 

 of the plain, and passes many noble sugar haciendas, 

 each with its dwelling house, refinery, crushing mill, and 

 other offices, built in the most substantial style, and almost 

 always adorned by a church, with dome and tower. They 

 rank, in value, fertility, and good cultivation by free la- 

 bour, among the first in New Spain. 



About sunset, when within a league of Cuautla Amil- 

 pas, our line being a very straggling one, three of us, at- 

 tended by Garcia, made a wrong turn, and went off 

 across a huge unbroken level, towards the base of Popo- 

 catepetl ; doubling our distance, and adding greatly to 

 the fatigues of the day. We however agreed that the 

 view we had hereby gained of the great volcano, rising, 

 without any neighbour or rival, to the height of fourteen 

 thousand teet perpendicular above the plateau on which 

 we stood, with the red glow of the sunset upon his snowy 

 summit, amply repaid us for the fatigue and vexation. 



It was dark before we entered the posada, in which we 

 found that M'Euen and the mules had with difficulty ef- 

 fected a lodgment. Indeed, it was not till our arrival 

 that a misunderstanding with the revenue officers was 

 satisfactorily explained, and our party felt at liberty to 

 prepare for rest and refreshment. How far that which 

 followed merited that character you shall judge. 



Cuautla Amilpas, like the town of Yautepec, is situated 

 upon one of the more considerable branches of either the 

 Rio de las Balsas or the river Mescala, whose channels 

 carry off to the Pacific all the waters flowing from the 

 southern slopes of the table land of Mexico. 



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