Chap. XL PASS OF COYACHIC. 373 
The level ground was covered with the finest grass. To the 
right and to the left were the first slopes of the declivities 
into the valleys which bordered the plateau on either side. 
Bushes and groves of gnarled evergreen oaks, about the size 
of old pear trees, covered these slopes, and, scattered over 
the plain, gave it the appearance of a park. To the west, 
nearly parallel with our road, extended a line of mountains 
— the Sierra de San Borja — covered with dark forest, and 
separated from us by a deep narrow valley, which at first 
could not be seen, the mountains oil the other side appear- 
ing as if standing on the same uninterrupted plain with us. 
The village or little town of San Borja lies in it ? and it 
is the same valley in the upper portions of which Coyachic 
and Cosihuiriachic are built. Wherever we could get a 
peep at San Borja, the sides of the valley were covered at 
regular intervals with small oak trees, giving them the 
appearance of an orchard of many miles in length. 
We arrived thus at the foot of the pass of Coyachic, 
where the road became more steep and rugged. There 
was no difficulty, however, in the ascent. Above, the 
scenery is extremely wild : grotesque rocks of porphyry, 
covered with grey, green, and yellow lichen, rise on each 
side in cliff and pinnacle, up to the very summit of the two 
peaks. Several kinds of oak, and pines with needles half a 
foot in length, grow on the ledges and in the crevices. 
The entrances of caves are seen in several places. 
As soon as the summit of the pass is reached, one looks 
suddenly down into a deep valley, or rather upon the other 
side of it, exhibiting a steep, rugged strangely-shaped 
cleft in an enormous alluvial mass, or conglomerate. It 
seems impossible for a carriage to get down into this abyss 
and to make its way out of it on the other side ; but the 
descent, which is well known to the drivers under the name 
