Page:History of the War between the United States and Mexico.djvu/389

Rh environs of the city, though more or less cultivated, are quite wet and marshy, especially during the rainy season, that commences towards the latter part of June, and terminates in September.

The modern city, which is over 7,600 feet above the level of the sea. lies about three miles west of Lake Tezcuco, and near six miles from the north-western point of Lake Xochimilco. It is approached by six great roads, terminating in stone causeways, from one and a half to three miles in length. The National Road, from Vera Cruz, along which the reader has followed the march of General Scott and his army, skirts the southern shore of Tezcuco, and enters the capital from the east. The Acapulco road, which terminates in the San Antonio causeway, approaches it from the south; the road from Toluca, entering upon the Tacubaya. causeway, with a lateral branch leading to the causeway of San Cosmé, from the south-west; and the great western, or San Cosmé road, from the west. The other two roads enter the city from the north. Between these principal roads are smaller ones, also terminating in causeways, which lead to the different towns in the valley and its neighborhood.

Few soldiers have ever wooed fortune for the smallest of her favors, so assiduously, and with such poor encouragement, as Santa Anna, the provisional President of Mexico, and General-in-chief of her armies. His military career, subsequent to the overthrow of the federal constitution, presents but a series of disasters; yet, in the midst of his reverses, he seems never to have been absolutely discouraged or disheartened. With the recollections of Angostura and Cerro Gordo fresh in his remembrance, he