296 M E X 
hot and impregnated with fulpliu rated hydrogen, and ve¬ 
getation is but juft beginning to recover on this defolated 
ipot. This volcano is about forty-fix leagues from the 
lea, and at about the fame diftance from the neareft ac¬ 
tive volcano ; and on this occalion M. de Humboldt re¬ 
marks that feveral volcanoes of the new world are as far 
from the fea as this ; whereas,’ in the old, we know of 
but one which is at a greater diftance from it than twelve 
leagues, while moll of them are upon the coall. This in¬ 
telligent traveller alfo informs us, that all the great vol¬ 
canoes of Mexico are not only nearly upon a line eroding 
the direction of the Cordilleras, but alio under the fame 
parallel, within a few' minutes, as if they had all been 
thrown up on a fubterraneous chafm extending from fea 
to fea. 
Mexico is well watered by very confiderable rivers, 
though none of them are comparable to thole of South 
America. Some of thefe run into the Gulf of Mexico, 
and others into the Pacific Ocean. The Alvarado has its 
principal fource among the mountains of the Zapotecas, 
and difeharges itfelf by three navigable mouths into the 
Mexican Gulf, at the diftance of thirty miles from Vera 
Cruz. The moll celebrated of the rivers which run into 
the Pacific Ocean is that called by the Spaniards Guada- 
laxara, or Great River. It riles in the mountains of To- 
loccan 5 and, after running a courfe of more than 600 miles, 
.difeharges itfelf into the ocean in 22 0 N. latitude. There 
are likewife in this country leveral lakes of very confider¬ 
able magnitude ; but thole of Nicaragua, Chapallan, and 
Pazquaro, which are of the greateft extent, did not belong 
to the ancient Mexican empire. The molt remarkable 
■were thofe in the Vale of Mexico, upon which the capital 
of the empire was founded. Of thefe, the frelh-water one, 
called the Lake of Chaleo, extended in length from eaft 
to weft twelve miles, as far as the city of Xochimilco; 
from thence, taking a northerly direction, it incorporated 
itfelf by means of a canal with the Lake of Tezcuco ; but 
its breadth did not exceed fix miles. The other, named 
the Lake of Tezcuco, extended leventeen miles from eaft 
to weft, and fomething more from fouth to north; but its 
extent is now much lefs, by reafon of the Spaniards hav¬ 
ing diverted the courfe of many of the ftreams which run 
into it. This lake is fait, which Clavigero fuppofes to 
aril'e from the nature of the foil which forms its beck 
The mineral productions of Mexico are extremely va¬ 
luable, l'uch as gold and filver in abundance, twm fpecies 
of copper, tin, lead, mercury, fulphur, alum, vitriol, 
amber, and afphaltum. It alfo produces diamonds, ame- 
thyfts, cats-eyes, cornelians, and fiome green ftones re- 
lembling emeralds, as alfo quarries of jafper and marble 
of various colours. There are faid to be whole moun¬ 
tains of loadftone, and a fine white talc which may be 
burnt into an excellent plafter. 
The foil is capable of producing all the neceflaries, and 
even the luxuries, of human life. Hiftorians mention no 
fewer than 1200 plants which are all indigenous, or na¬ 
tives of the country; but, as thefe are faid to be chiefly 
medicinal, we muft conclude that provident nature has 
furniftied them with many more which are intended for 
nouriflmient. This country abounds with a great variety 
of flowers, numbers of which are peculiar to itfelf; while 
many exotics even rival them in luxuriance, fitch in par¬ 
ticular as are imported from Europe. Water-melons, 
apples, pears, peaches, apricots, figs, &c. are among the 
exotics, which thrive in a manner equal to any of the in¬ 
digenous productions. All the maritime diftriCts abound 
with cocoa-nut trees, of which Hernandez mentions four 
kinds, the fmalleft of which is moftly ufed for chocolate 
and other drinks. Prior to the introduction of corn from 
Europe, maize was the principal grain of Mexico, and of 
which there were feveral fpecies. It was brought from 
America to Spain, and from thence to the other countries 
of Europe, The principal kind of pulfe ufed by the peo¬ 
ple was the French bean, the different fpecies of which ex¬ 
ceeded in number thole of the maize ; and one of them in 
ICO. 
particular not only fupported the poorer clafs, but even 
the Spanifh nobility deemed it a luxury. Hiftorians enu¬ 
merate five fpecies of efculent roots, exclufive of many 
culinary vegetables imported from tile Canaries, Spain, 
and other European countries. This country produces a 
variety of palm-trees, from the fibres of the leaves of one 
fpecies of which the Mexicans manufacture thread. The 
timber-trees are numerous, and, in refpeCl: of quality, faid 
to be inferior to none in the world. There are whole, 
woods of cedars and ebonies, and fome trees mentioned 
by Clavigero are of a molt ftupendous magnitude. This 
author mentions one that meafured 107 Paris feet in 
height; and Acofca fpeaks of one that was 16 fathoms in 
circumference. A remarkable fir-tree,.hollowed by light¬ 
ning, contained within it one hundred young' men, ac¬ 
cording to the teftimony of the archbifhop of Toledo, w r ho 
went to view it in the year 1770. 
This country all’o abounds with aromatic and medi¬ 
cinal trees, producing gums, refins, Sec. From one of 
thefe a balfam is produced not in the lead inferior to the 
celebrated balfam of Mecca. The tree producing liquid 
amber, the liquid ftorax of the Mexicans, Is of a large lize, 
the leaves fimilar to thofe of the maple, indented, white 
in one part and dark in the other, dilpofed of in threes; 
the fruit is thorny and round, but polygonous, with the 
furface and the angles yellow ; the bark of the tree partly 
green and partly tawmy. By incifions in the trunk they 
extraCt that valuable lubftance named liquid amber, and 
the oil of the lame name, which is Hill more valuable. 
Liquid amber is likewife obtained from a decoCtion of 
the branches, but it is inferior to that obtained from the 
trunk. The name copalli in Mexico is generic, and com¬ 
mon to all the refins ; but efpecially Agilities thofe made 
ufe of for incenfe. There are ten fpecies of thefe trees 
yielding refins of this kind ; the principal of which is 
that from w'hich the copal is got, lo well known in me¬ 
dicine and varnilhes. A great quantity of this was made 
ufe of by the ancient Mexicans, and is ftill uled for fimi¬ 
lar purpoles by the Spaniards. The tecopalli or tcpecopalli 
is a relin fimilar to the incenfe of Arabia; which diftils 
from a tree of moderate fize that grows in the mountains, 
having a fruit like an acorn, and containing the nut en¬ 
veloped in a mucilage, within which there is a fmall ker¬ 
nel ufeful in medicine. The mizquitl, or mezquite, is a 
fpecies of true acacia, and the gum diftiliing from it is 
faid to be the true gum arabic.' Of the elaftic gum, which 
is found in plenty in Mexico, the natives uled to make 
foot-balls ; and with this they varnilh their hats, cloaks, 
boots, and great coats, in a manner fimilar to what is done 
in Europe with wax; and by which means they are ren¬ 
dered water-proof. 
The quadrupeds found in Mexico, at the arrival of the 
Spaniards, were lions, tigers, wild cats, bears, wolves, 
foxes, the common flags, white flags, bucks, wild goats, 
badgers, polecats, weafels, martins, fquirrels, polatucas, 
rabbits, hares, otters, and rats. All thele animals are 
fuppoled to be common to both continents. The white 
flag, whether it be the fame fpecies with the other or not, 
is undoubtedly common to both, and was known to the 
Greeks and Romans. The Mexicans call it the king- of 
the /lags. The animals common to both countries are, 
the' Mexican hog, the moufete, the opoflum, the aripa- 
dillo, the techichi, a fmall animal refembiing a dog; which 
being perfectly dumb, gave occafton to a report that the 
Mexican dogs could not bark. The fielh of this animal 
was eaten by them, and was efteemed agreeable and nou- 
riftiing food. After the conqueft of Mexico, the Spa¬ 
niards, having neither large cattle nor llieep, provided 
their markets with this quadruped; by which means, the 
fpecies foon came to be extinft, though it had been very 
numerous. Belides thele, there are lea-lions, ratoons, 
and that formidable animal named the tapir. Oviedo in¬ 
forms us, that he has feen it at one bite tear oft two or 
three hand-breadths of Ikin from a hound, and at an¬ 
other a whole leg and thigh. The flelli is eatable, and the 
x Ikin 
