Page:Life in Mexico vol 1.djvu/124

104 may have been carried by his young nobles in his open litter, under a splendid dais, stepping out upon the rich stuffs which his slaves spread before him on that green and velvet turf.

And from the very rock where the Castle stands, he may have looked out upon his fertile valley, and great capital, with its canoe-covered lakes, and outspreading villages and temples, and gardens of flowers, no care for the future darkening the bright vision.

Tradition says, that now these caves and tanks and woods are haunted by the shade of the Conqueror's Indian love, the far-famed Dona Marina, but I think she would be afraid of meeting with the wrathful spirit of the Indian emperor.

The Castle itself, modern though it be, seems like a tradition. The Viceroy Galvez, who built it, is of a by-gone race! The apartments are lonely and abandoned, the walls falling to ruin, the glass of the windows and the carved work of the doors have been sold; and, standing at this great height, exposed to every wind that blows, it is rapidly falling to decay. We were accompanied by Count Ca, and received by a Mexican governor, who rarely resides there, and who very civilly conducted us everywhere. But Chapultepec is not a show-place. One must go there early in the morning, when the dew is on the grass, or in the evening, when the last rays of the sun are gilding with rosy light the snowy summits of the volcanoes; and dismount from your horse, or step out of your carriage, and wander forth without guide, or object, or fixed time for return.