Page:Mexico, Aztec, Spanish and Republican, Vol 2.djvu/266

228 {|align=center
 * width=160|
 * width=70|
 * width=70|
 * width=70|
 * width=50|
 * |Names of places.
 * |N. Latitude
 * |Longitude east from Mexico.
 * colspan=2 |Elevation above the level of the ocean.
 * Ameco a village
 * 19° 7' 40"
 * Ameco a village
 * 19° 7' 40"
 * 19° 7' 40"


 * 0° 23' 30"


 * 8,216
 * Eng. feet.
 * St. Nicolas de los Ranchos
 * 19° 4' 21"
 * 19° 4' 21"


 * 0° 32' 30"


 * 8,087
 * do.
 * Tochimilco
 * 6,930
 * do.
 * Superior limit of pines
 * 12,544
 * do.
 * Limit of all vegetation
 * 12,693
 * do.
 * Picacho de S. Guliermo
 * 16,895
 * do.
 * colspan=3 |The most elevated border of the crater of the volcano of Popocatepetl
 * 17,884
 * do.
 * | Rancho de la Vaqueria
 * 10,784
 * do.
 * }
 * Picacho de S. Guliermo
 * 16,895
 * do.
 * colspan=3 |The most elevated border of the crater of the volcano of Popocatepetl
 * 17,884
 * do.
 * | Rancho de la Vaqueria
 * 10,784
 * do.
 * }
 * | Rancho de la Vaqueria
 * 10,784
 * do.
 * }
 * do.
 * }

The vast plain of Puebla, separated from the Valley of Mexico by its gigantic chain of bordering mountains, is full of interesting associations and studies for the antiquarian; but, among all of the sites signalized in the history of the Aztecs or of the Spanish Conquest, no one is more generally sought by the traveller than the Pyramid of Cholula. Its lofty remains lie about three leagues westward from the city of Puebla, and are easily reached by a pleasant ride over the plain. The pyramid was originally built of sun dried bricks, or, adobes, rising in four stories connected by terraces. Many years ago, in cutting a new road from Mexico towards Puebla, it became necessary to cross a portion of the base of this pyramid, and, in the course of the excavation, a square chamber was opened, which was found to be constructed of stone with a roof supported by cypress beams. Some idols, carved in basalt, a number of painted earthen vases, and two bodies were found in this cavity, but as no care was taken of these relics by the discoverers, and as their explorations were not prosecuted deeper into the bowels of the gigantic mound, the world is now quite as ignorant of its ancient uses as it was during the possession of the country by the Spaniards. The most recent publication upon the subject of Cholula by Señor Gondra, the Curator of the National Museum, in the University of Mexico, merely repeats the thrice told tales of the last century.

The top of this pyramid is reached by paths that climb its sides amid masses of debris and groves of bushes which have driven their