204 



MOUNTAINS 



OF 



COLUMNAR PORPHYRY 

 OF JACAL. 



PLATE LXV. 



This view was taken from the plain of Copal- 

 linchiche, which forms a part of the great Mexi- 

 can plain, and is thirteen hundred toises (2530 

 metres) above the level of the ocean. The 

 mountains of Oyamel and Jacal, composed of 

 enormous columns of trappean porphyry, are 

 crowned with pines and oaks. It is between 

 the farm of Zembo and the Indian village of 

 Omitlan, that the celebrated mines of iztli, or 

 obsidian, worked by the ancient Mexicans, are 

 found. This spot is called in the country, the 

 mountain of knives, el Cerro de las Nabajas. The 

 summit of Jacal is sixteen hundred and three 

 toises (3124 metres) in height. My sketch gives 

 the outlines of the Cerro de Santo Domingo (1), 

 of Mocaxetillo (2), of Orcones (3), and of Jacal^ 

 or Cerro Gordo (4). 



