House and Garden 
the castle from the lake 
draining of the lake very nearly destroyed 
the magnificent groves of cypresses for which 
Chapultepec is famed, many of which were 
already old in the days of Montezuma. 
These trees—a species of deciduous cypress 
called by the Indians Ahuehuetl, or Old 
Man of the Water—require a marshy soil, 
and when not only was the land drained 
but some eucalyptus trees were planted, 
they began to wither and die. Modern 
science has dug trenches around their 
roots and supplied them artificially with that 
water which Nature had given gratui¬ 
tously, and the situation is saved. There is 
another danger which threatens them in the 
shape of the enormous quantities of gray moss 
which cling to their branches. It hangs in 
ghostly festoons; it is rootless, colorless, 
feathery, and increases at an alarming rate. 
In the Sacro Monte at Ameca-meca, where 
there is a much greater accumulation of this 
moss than there is at Chapultepec, the effect 
is both weird and picturesque. 
The trunk of the Ahuehuetl is the trunk 
of a cypress, but the foliage is infinitely 
feathery, and the boughs spread like the 
boughs of a mighty cedar. The largest 
known is the big tree of Tule, whose trunk, 
measured at a height of six feet from the 
ground, is 154 feet 2 inches in circumference. 
The modern Castle of Chapultepec was 
begun in 1783 by the Viceroy, Don Matias 
de Galvez. There was evidently an older 
building existing at that time, as he obtained 
permission from the Spanish Government to 
“ repair and put in order the Castle of Chapul¬ 
tepec. ” He appears to have entirely rebuilt 
it; his son and successor, Don Bernardo, 
finished it in 1785. The building cost 
$300,000, and the brilliant Don Bernardo, 
who was a favorite of the King and who 
belonged to a family which rose from obscu¬ 
rity by royal favor, found himself abused by 
both parties. The Spanish King cut off the 
supplies which he had used too generously 
and the Castle remained unfurnished for 
some time; while the Mexicans accused him 
of imposing a fortress on the country under 
the pretence of erecting a viceregal palace. 
Future viceroys, however, added consider¬ 
ably to the structure, and the Emperor Maxi¬ 
milian, who was here a great deal during his 
short reign, left his mark both on the exterior 
and the interior, which were entirely deco- 
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