THE CASTLE OF CHAPULTEPEC 
By Beatrice Erskine 
/^HAPULl EPEC—the hill of the grass- 
hopper—is a porphyry rock rising sud¬ 
denly to a height of some two hundred feet 
from the plain which surrounds the City of 
Mexico. 
The Paseo de la Riforma, the boulevard 
two and a half miles long which leads from 
the city to Chapultepec, is a favorite evening 
promenade of the Mexicans. It starts at 
the gloneta in the circular space where 
stands the equestrian statue of Charles IV. 
by Don Manuel Tolsa. Elumboldt, who 
assisted at its erection in its original position 
in the Plaza Mayor, says that it was de¬ 
signed, modeled and cast by the same artist, 
but later authorities state that it was cast 
under the supervision of Don Salvador de 
la Vega. It is the largest piece of sculpture 
in the world cast in a single piece of bronze. 
After this glorieta is passed the low white 
villas with the masses of purple and crimson 
bougainvillea banging over wall and gateway 
give place to the open country. The road 
is bordered with trees—not so luxuriant as in 
former days. To the left the great snow 
mountains—Popocatepetl and Ixtaccihuatl 
—are generally capped with golden clouds; 
to the right beautiful effects of gold and 
silver mist and strange half lights play 
about among the different layers of moun¬ 
tain ranges. By and by the castle stands 
out boldly against a background of purple 
mountain; in spite of its size and its situa¬ 
tion it gives an impression of elegance and 
lightness rather than of strength. The 
double arcading, the terraced gardens and 
the tower of the observatory, give a good 
deal of variety and light and shade, and 
the mass of verdure, growing with a wild 
luxuriance all over the rock itself, increases 
the picturesqueness of the view. 
A small piece of ornamental water is all 
that now remains of the lake which once 
occupied so large a space and which was 
drained, for sanitary reasons, when the castle 
was first used as a military college. The 
THE CASTI.E OF CHAPULTEPEC 
152 
