LETTER XXVII. 
DESAGUA. CARRIAGES. MULES. TROOPS. MUSIC. OPERA. RECRUITS. 
THEATRES. MEXICAN THIEVES. THE JUDGE AND TURKEY. 
Mexico, lying in the lap of a valley, with mountains around it contin- 
ually pouring their streams into the sandy soil, has been frequently in 
danger of returning to the " slime from whence she rose." Since the 
trees have been cut from the plains and the surface exposed to the direct 
action of the sun, the valley has become drier and the lake has shrunk ; 
but Mexico has, nevertheless, been several times threatened with inunda- 
tions. 
In estimating the dangerous situation of the Metropolis, it is necessary 
for you to recollect the position and levels of the adjacent lakes. South- 
eastwardly is the lake of Chalco ; northwestwardly the lake of Tezcoco ; 
and north of that again, in a continuous chain, are the lakes of San Cris- 
toval and Zumpango. The latter sheet of water is about eighteen feet 
higher than San Cristoval, — San Cristoval is twelve feet higher than Tez- 
coco, — and the level of the great Square of Mexico is not more than three 
feet above that of Tezcoco. Thus, the head of water which could be 
easily poured over the Capital is immense, especially as the river Cuautit- 
ian pours an additional stream constantly into the northern link of the 
chain at Zumpango. In 1629 the whole city of Mexico, with the ex- 
ception of the Plaza, was laid waste by inundation. In most of the streets 
the water continued for upward of three years, and, until 1634, portions 
of the town were still traversed by canoes. 
So great was the misery and want caused by this misfortune, that the 
Court of Spain had issued orders to abandon the Capital and build a new 
one, between Tacuba and Tacubaya, on upland levels, that had never 
been reached by the lakes before the conquest. An earthquake, how- 
ever, rent the earth and freed the city of the accumulated waters ; and 
the result of this warning was the completion of an immense Desagua or 
sewer, which thoroughly empties the oi'dinary contents of the valley. But 
urgent as was the necessity for this work, it was procrastinated by the 
dilatoriness of Mexican laborers, until the year 1789. " The whole length 
of the cut," is said by Mr. Ward, " to be, from the sluice called Vertide- 
ros, to the salto of the river Tula, 67,537 feet ; where the waters are 
discharged at a spot about 300 feet beneath the level of the lake of Zum- 
