VISIT TO THE PYRAMID. 



229 



roots deeply between the fissures of the bricks. The level summit 

 irotected by a parapet wall, — and once the shrine of Quetzalcoatl — 

 the "Feathered Serpent," or " God of the Air," — is now adorned 

 w T ith a small dome-crowned chapel, surrounded with cypresses and 

 dedicated to the Virgin of Remedios ; while, from all parts of the 

 eminence, a magnificent panorama of the fruitful plain spreads out 

 at the feet of the spectator. 



The following extract from a communication by an officer of our 

 army, in 1847, during the invasion of Mexico, contains some inter- 

 esting facts, and corrects scientifically the measurements of the 

 pyramid which were made by Baron Humboldt : 



All the mornings of this elevated region, even in the rainy sea- 

 son, are bright and charming ; the sun rises in unclouded splendor, 

 gilding one of the most magnificent landscapes the imagination can 

 conceive, whilst the atmosphere is so pure and elastic that it is a 

 positive pleasure to breathe it. On such a morning, in company 

 with the 4th regiment of artillery, acting as infantry, and a squad- 

 ron of horse, we sallied from the city through the garita of Cholula, 

 and soon found ourselves in the extensive plain skirting the base of 

 the volcanoes of Puebla — Popocatepetl and Iztaccihuatl. Before 

 us glittered in the morning's sun their snow-capped summits ; on 

 our right rose the Malinche, with its craggy crest partially envel- 

 oped in a wreath of mist ; whilst behind us, in the far distance, 

 towered the indistinct form of the Orizaba — that well-known land- 

 mark of the seaman, that serves to guide him in calm and in storm, 

 hundreds of miles along the Mexican coast. The nearer landscape 

 was as soft and picturesque as its more distant features were grand 

 and sublime. A green meadow or prairie extended around us for 

 some miles in every direction, dotted with villas and haciendas, and 

 relieved by occasional patches of cultivation, and avenues and clus- 

 ters of the beautiful shade willow. Herds of cattle and horses 

 grazed as quietly on the surrounding estates as though " grim-vis- 

 aged war" had long since " smoothed his wrinkled front," and our 

 military escort, as it wound its way over the fair landscape, with 

 glittering arms and glancing banners, seemed more like a holyday 

 procession than a band of stern veterans so recently from the con- 

 flict, and so soon to enter it again. A ride of an hour and a quarter, 

 which our horses, as they snuffed the morning breeze and scented 

 the fresh grass of the meadows, seemed to enjoy as much as their 

 riders, brought us to the base of the far-famed pyramid, which, inde- 

 pendently of its historical recollection, and the great interest attached 



