Page:Face to Face With the Mexicans.djvu/191

Rh become more distant from the salt-water lake, the movable Chinampas have become more fixed. . . . Every Chinampa forms a parallelogram of 100 meters in length, and five or six meters in breadth (328 x 16 or 19 feet). Beans, peppers, potatoes, and a magnificent variety of vegetables are cultivated on them, and every border, almost, is hedged by lovely, bright flowers."

But chief in historic interest of the sights in the vicinity of the capital, is the grand old fortress of Chapultepec. It is reached by either a pleasant stroll of three miles, by tram, or by carriage on the Paseo, and at last we rest beneath the shade of stately old trees, with their clinging drapery of white moss; some of these trees are reputed to have been in existence fifteen hundred years, and are known as ahuehuetes.