Page:Life in Mexico vol 1.djvu/176



 Calle de Tacuba — The Leap of Alvarado — The "Noche Triste." — Sale of a Curate's Goods — Padre Leon — Leprosy — Pictures — The Annunciation — The Alameda — Paseo de Bucarelli — The Viga — Indians in canoes — A Murder — A Country Fête — Visit to the Colegia Vizcaino — The Jota Arragonesa — Old Soldiers.

The street in which we live forms part of the Calle de Tacuba, the ancient Tlacopan, one of the great causeways by which ancient Mexico communicated with the continent. The other two were Tepeyayac (now Guadalupe) and Iztapalapan, by which last, the Mexican Emperor and his nobles went out to receive Cortes on his entrance to Tenochtitlan. The ancient city was divided into four districts, and this division is still preserved, with a change from the Indian names to those of San Pablo, San Sebastian, San Juan, and Santa Maria. The streets run in the same direction as they did in former times. The same street frequently changes its name in each division, and this part of the Calle de Tacuba, is occasionally called the "Plazuela del Sopilote," "San Fernando," and the "Puente de Alvarado," which is the more classic of the three, as celebrating the valor of a hero; while a ditch, crossed by a small bridge near this, still retains the name of "el Salto de Alvarado," in memory of the famous leap given