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Midway across the continent, somewhat nearer the Pacific than the Atlantic ocean, at an elevation of nearly seven thousand five hundred feet, is the celebrated valley of Mexico. It is of an oval form, about sixty-seven leagues in circumference, and is encompassed by a towering rampart of porphyritic rocks, which nature seems to have provided, though ineffectually, to protect it from invasion." He also remarks that "five lakes are spread over the valley, occupying one-tenth of its surface." Thus, as it were, at one view, bursts upon the astonished traveller, village, city, lakes, plains, and mountains, together with a view of the culture, and the different kinds of crops, as husbanded by the Mexicans, to interest the beholder, as he journeys along.

I could only admire the extensive fields spread out before me, for the valley of Mexico is justly renowned for its fertility; all the lands are said to be capable of cultivation by irrigation, from the abundance of water afforded from streams and lakes. Thus, whilst I might, upon the right hand, be pained to see the sterileness of a tract of country, made so, perhaps, by the neglect of its opulent owner, and appropriated as a common for grazing; on the left I would be greeted by the pleasing prospect of miles in extent, and as far as the eye could reach, of lands cultivated alone in maize, or Indian corn. And while now I would arrive at verdant nooks, with acres of land cultivated in chili, or Indian pepper, of which the inhabitants make considerable use and I was informed that a single individual, from one crop of chili alone, realized the immense sum of fifty thousand dollars-and then I would come upon the green and flowery fields, cultivated to feed the cochineal insect. But what the more attracted my attention was the deep green, wide-spreading aloe, called by the Mexicans Maguey. This plant has, in its perfection, a stem shooting up to ten or fifteen feet in height, with an appearance of clustered flowers at its top when ripe-the stem, or stalk of a liquid pithy substance, is consumed in a raw state by the

natives. But such being the variety of the uses to which this spontaneous plant is appropriated by the Mexicans, I shall speak of its multifarious properties and consumption, when my longer, travels and residence in the country will better enable me to describe them.

The view of the valley of Mexico is certainly beautiful and grand, and but for the painful absence of timber, and the vast sterility of much of its territory, might, perhaps, be the most magnificent sight any where to behold upon the face of the globe. There is no country in the world, from the best information I could obtain, where individual citizens hold as large bodies of land as in Mexico, and it is estimated that, from seven millions of inhabitants, in all probability, less than five hundred thousand are the owners of all the terra firma of that rich country.

As I progressed, I was soon brought in bold view, by my close contact, with the lake region. One of these lakes near the city of Mexico, I was informed, was thirty miles in length, and looked to be the bay or port of the great city. Although the lake is said to be of that considerable extent, yet, as my eyes, in that atmosphere, were cast over its transparent blue waters, and the dark reflections of the mountains were thrown upon it, the space did not seem to me to be one-half, or more than one-third the distance. This lake by name is Tezcuco-has an abundance of fish, and during the most of the year is inhabited by large flocks of water-fowls-and it was on that lake that Mr. Wilcox, the American consul, was in the habit of amusing himself by firing small shot from a cannon upon the ducks.

There is on the border of the lake, Agua calienta, or hot springs, the waters of which are used for bathing purposes. During the nine months of the dry season, when the lakes recede from their high water marks, all the shores that have been covered by water, as was the case when seen by me, had a thick incrustation, or deposit of carbonate of soda, which is scraped up by the Indians, and sold by them for

the purpose of making soap-as the inhabitants are compelled to use that article; for not a sufficiency of wood is burned in Mexico to produce a supply of ashes for the manufacture of soap.

All of the water, as likewise the soil of Mexico, is strong ly impregnated with carbonate of soda, as I had continual opportunities of witnessing. The lake water exhibited the phenomenon in a more perceptible manner than the flowing streams, and some of them were stronger than others, by the difference of the quantity of their deposits. I once rode on the margin of a small lake, where the hoofs of my animal as it passed over the deposit of carbonate of soda, made sounds resembling that of snow when trod upon. It might be inquired-from whence does the water of the lakes obtain the mineral? for but few of them have streams from the mountains running into them, being but stagnant pools of rain water. The reply is obvious-the water extracts its soda constituent from the earth, which seems to have an inexhaustible amount of that most ostensible component of its parts. This one thing, however, I was unwillingly made satisfied of the water of Mexico has an active medical effect, as all foreigners who go to that country can testify, from the fact of its deleterious effects having carried many to the tomb, by conferring a chronic diarrhea on those who partake freely of its use. The water of the city of Mexico is said to be more pernicious to the health of a stranger than any other in all the Republic. The entire use of rain water, I was informed, proved always to be a specific remedy for the afflicted.

But what, as much as any thing else, attracted my attention, was a mound which had been thrown up by a volcanic eruption, immediately on the margin of the lake. This mound of lava seemed to me to have been about two hundred feet in diameter at its base, and one hundred in height. Its form was precisely like that of a funnel, with its greater diameter resting on the surface, while at the same time there