GROVE OF THE CONTADOR. 235 
Monfezuma it is disposed of most summarily by the universal — " Quien 
sabe !" 
It was growing quite late (after descending the hill of Tezcosingo to 
the plain at the north of it,) as we passed through the estate of the ex- 
Marquis of V , known as " La Molina./' or the Mill. Extensive plant- 
ations of grain and maguey spread out over a vast expanse of country, 
and no buildings are perceptible until you approach the edges of a wide 
barranca, traversed by a stream from the mountains, freshening the ver- 
dure of clusters of shrubbery, that conceal the rocks and rugged sides 
of the ravine. After falling over a number of precipices, as the glen 
deepens, and forming some beautiful cascades, the brooklet gradually 
spreads out on the flats to the west, and here (niched in the last steeps of 
the tangled barranca,) have been erected the lofty dwelling, stores and 
mills of the farmer Marquis. Farther up the glen, beyond the dwelling, 
and reached by a narrow entrance which almost bars approach, the taste- 
ful owner has formed the gorge through which the stream gurgles into one 
of the most exquisite retreats that can be imagined. The barranca is 
quite narrow ; in its centre the brook skims along over a rocky bed ; its 
sides have been smoothed and planted ; grassy seats are built around 
sward covered recesses ; rare flowers are imbedded in spots, where, 
shielded from the' storms, they are ever fresh and bloomino- ; a tinv 
chapel is erected on a jutting rock, and breaks the silence with its silvery 
bell ; and, over all, the lofty trees (meeting in a Gothic arch from bank to 
bank,) cast their eternal shade throughout the scarcely varying seasons. 
It is the most beautiful hijou of rural design that I have seen in Mexico. 
Indeed, it is equalled by few, elsewhere, and may be regarded as the more 
remarkable, as the whole has been formed out of what was once but an 
unsightly gully. 
l-2th Octoher. We rode to-day to the Contador, another relic of Monte- 
zuma. It is a noble grove of cypresses, about a league northwest of 
Tezcoco. It was, however, not only our intention to see those trees ; but 
Don Ignacio had eagerly persuaded us to join him in a plover-shooting 
expedition, on the marsh lands near the lake. I was, therefore, as you 
may well imagine, exceedingly surprised to find our guide waiting at 
his door, to accompany us, mounted on a lull! My first disposition was 
to laugh ; but he prevented it by a smile, and a request to " wait until 
v/e got among the chicliiquillotes, and see what a sportsman his beast 
was!" Tio is remarkable for his hunting strategy; and, besides his 
bull, (with which he hunts even in the mountains,) he has invented 
a pipe that perfectly counterfeits the bleating of deer ; and by its sound 
he has often attracted a dozen around him, while lying concealed in the 
ooverts of the forest. Upon the whole, he is a perfect Yankee in inventive 
talent for the destruction of game ; and I doubt not that, if it were his 
