Page:Mexico in 1827 Vol 2.djvu/287

Rh a little beyond Săn Mărtīn, where the passage of the mountains, that separate La Puebla from Mexico, commences.

Cortes, on his march towards Mexico, opened a road for his army between the two mountains, but this has long been abandoned, and the line of communication now passes to the East of Īstăccihuătl, where, though the ground is very rugged, and in one part, (the Bărrāncă de Jūānĕs,) attains the height of 10,486 feet, carriages are nevertheless able to pass. From San Martin, which is seven leagues from La Puebla by the direct road, to the Venta de Tĕsmĕlūcŏs, (about three leagues,) the ascent is very gentle, amounting only to 557 feet: but in the next four leagues, which extend to Rio Frio, and the Bărrāncă de Jūānĕs, there is a difference of 2,219 feet.

From the summit of the Barranca to the Valley of Tĕnōchtĭtlān, or Mexico, there is a gradual descent, which becomes almost imperceptible on reaching the Venta de Chălcŏ, where Humboldt found the elevation to be exactly the same as that of San Martin on the opposite side of the range, viz. 7,711 feet.

Nothing can be finer than the first view of the Valley of Mexico as it bursts upon you from a little above the Venta de Cōrdŏvă, with all its lakes, rocks, villages, and Haciendas, scattered around the Capital in one vast basin. It is impossible not to be struck with so magnificent a scene.