240 



AC APANTZINGO 



ITS INDIAN ISOLATION. 



indigo, and all the tropical plants and trees, are successfully culti- 

 vated, and the 48 sugar estates comprehended within its limits, 

 produce not less than 200,000 hundred weight of raw and refined 

 sugar, besides 50,000 barrels of distilled spirits. 



The chief town is Cuernavaca, lying 3,998 feet above the sea, 

 3,426 below the city of Mexico, and 5,786 feet beneath the Cruz 

 del Marquez, from the neighborhood of which the whole panorama 

 of this splendid valley bursts upon the traveller. Cuernavaca rests 

 on a tongue of land projecting into the valley between two steep 

 barrancas or ravines. Plentifully supplied with water, and situated 

 in the midst of the tierra caliente, it is, of course, buried among 

 luxuriant foliage which is never touched with frost. The town 

 may, therefore, be justly called a garden, in whose midst rise the 

 picturesque houses of the townsfolk, — the walls of the church built 

 by Cortez, — and the dwelling that was erected during the Spanish 

 dynasty by the fortunate miner Laborde. The grounds, attached 

 to this edifice, were laid out with care and taste. Lakelets spread 

 out among the profuse vegetation; bellevues were erected at every 

 spot whence a favorite prospect of the valley might be obtained; 

 and bowers were built in the shadiest corners amid lofty palms or 

 choice varieties of native and exotic plants. Time and neglect 

 have done their work upon this beautiful structure ; but the vegeta- 

 tion is so abundant and graceful, that the ruined portions are soon 

 filled up and concealed by flowers or leaves. Few spots on earth 

 afford a more agreeable retreat to a man who is willing to pass his 

 life in a tropical climate and in a stagnant society. 1 



Ac apantzingo is a village in the neighborhood of Cuernavaca, 

 whose Indian inhabitants are remarkable for their entire separation 

 from the rest of the Mexican population. They have never mingled 

 their blood with the Spaniards during the three hundred years of 

 foreign dominion, but have always preserved, intact, their own 

 laws, habits, institutions, language and customs. They work on 

 the neighboring plantations; but, with this exception, refuse all in- 

 tercourse with the Mexicans, or part in their government. The 

 authorities have never forced them to abandon their secluded sys- 

 tem; but seem to have respected their feeble rights, as the invaders 

 respected the republic of San Marino in Italy during the wars that 

 succeeded the French revolution. 



Cacahuamilpa, or Cacahuawamilpa, an Indian village in 

 whose vicinity lies the remarkable cavern of that name which winds 



1 See chapter on the agriculture of Mexico for more extended notices of the char- 

 acter of the valley of Cuernavaca. 



