TOPOGRAPHY OF THE VALLEY OF MEXICO. 



383 



the topography of the valley with some minuteness, although it is 

 not designed to recount, in detail, all the events and personal hero- 

 ism of the battles that ensued. This would require infinitely more 

 room than we can afford, and we are, accordingly, spared the dis- 

 cussion of many circumstances which concern the merits, the opin- 

 ions, and the acts of various commanders. 



Looking downward towards the west from the shoulders of the 

 lofty elevations which border the feet of the volcano of Popocate- 

 petl, the spectator beholds a remarkable and perfect basin, enclosed 

 on every side by mountains whose height varies from two hundred 

 to ten thousand feet from its bottom. The form of this basin may 

 be considered nearly circular, the diameter being about fifty miles. 

 As the eye descends to the levels below, it beholds every variety of 

 scenery. Ten extinct volcanoes rear their ancient cones and craters 

 in the southern part of the valley, multitudes of lesser hills and 

 elevations break the evenness of the plain, while, interspersed 

 among its eight hundred and thirty square miles of arable land and 

 along the shores of its six lakes of Chalco, Xochimilco, Tezcoco, 

 San Cristoval, Xaltocan and Zumpango, stretching across the valley 

 from north to south, are seen the white walls of ten populous cities 

 and towns. In front of the observer, about forty miles to the west, 

 is the capital of the Republic, while the main road thither descends 

 rapidly from the last mountain slopes, at the Venta de Cordova, 

 until it is lost in the plain on the margin of Lake Chalco near the 

 Hacienda of Buena Vista. From thence to the town of Ayotla it 

 sweeps along the plain between a moderate elevation on the north 

 and the lake of Chalco on the south. 



On the 11th of August, General Scott, after crossing the moun- 

 tains, concentrated his forces in the valley. General Twiggs en- 

 camped with his division in advance, on the direct road, at Ayotla, 

 near the northern shore of Lake Chalco ; General Quitman was 

 stationed with his troops a short distance in the rear; General 

 Worth occupied the town of Chalco on the western shore of its 

 lake, while General Pillow brought up the rear by an encampment 

 near Worth. 



This position of the army commanded four routes to the capital 

 whose capture was the coveted prize. The first of these, as well 

 as the shortest and most direct, was the main post road which 

 reaches the city by the gate or garita of San Lazaro on the east. 

 After passing Ayotla this road winds round the foot of an extinct 

 volcanic hill for five miles when it approaches the sedgy shores and 



