Page:Mexico in 1827 Vol 2.djvu/214

200 by the Governor and Officers of the garrison, but proceeded almost immediately to the village of Tĕpĕyăgūālcŏ, (about seven leagues farther on,) which we reached a little before dusk.

Pĕrōtĕ may be regarded as the Eastern extremity of the Table-land: it is situated 7,692 feet above the level of the sea, and as it is but little protected from the North-west winds, its climate is at times exceedingly severe. In the immediate vicinity of the town, the ground is fertile, and the Cerealia succeed remarkably well; but as you advance into the Interior, the sterility of the soil increases at every step. The pine-forests are confined entirely to the mountains; they cease to thrive upon the tracts of flat country by which the ridges which intersect them at intervals are separated from each other. These form a succession of basins, which evidently must have been, at some former period, extensive lakes. The action of the water upon the foot of the mountains, by which these basins are environed, is distinctly visible, and you can even trace the line to which it appears to have risen. It seems to have partaken of the nature of that of the Lake of Mexico, for, in receding, it has left the ground covered with a thick coat of Tequesquite, or Carbonate of Soda, which is gradually destroying every trace of vegetation. The whole plain already produces only a scanty supply of food for the flocks of sheep which are occasionally seen wandering over it; and as the water that still remains is brackish, and grows every