Page:Mexico in 1827 Vol 1.djvu/91

Rh about 319 toises below the level of the Capital; and extends nearly fifty miles, in a direction from S.W. to N.E. The plains of Cūāūtlă are considerably lower than those about Săn Găbrĭĕl, in the vicinity of Cuĕrnăvācă; but, with the exception of a ridge of hills which divides the two valleys, the whole space from Īzūcăr to Cuĕrnăvācă is occupied by a succession of Haciendas, (estates,) all of which are in a state of the most beautiful cultivation. The valley abounds in water, both for irrigation and machinery, which last, in the opinion of a gentleman who accompanied me, and who is well acquainted with our West India Islands, is fully equal to that employed in the British Colonies, where steam-engines have not been introduced.

The crops are usually very abundant, the cane being planted much closer than is customary in Jamaica, but the ground is not exhausted by this system, as the Mexican planter is enabled, from the extent of his estate, to divide his sugar lands into four equal parts, one only of which is taken annually into cultivation. The remaining three lie fallow, until their turn comes round again.

The sugar produced, though abounding in saccharine matter, is generally coarse in appearance, and of a bad colour, being merely clayed, in order