Page:Mexico in 1827 Vol 2.djvu/313

Rh bather must necessarily have been confined during his ablutions. It seems more probable that it may have served to receive the waters of a spring, since dried up, as its depth is considerable, while the edge on one side is formed into a spout.

Chapingo is one of the finest specimens of Mexican Haciendas. The house was built by the Jesuits, to whom the estate originally belonged, and purchased of the Government, on the dissolution of the Society of Jesus, by the ancestor of the present Marchioness of Vĭbāncŏ, out of the proceeds of the Mine of Bărrāncŏ, at Bŏlāñŏs. The lands about it are exceedingly rich, as an abundant supply of water for irrigation is drawn from a reservoir, into which a number of little streams from the neighbouring mountains are conducted. The vicinity of the Capital ensures a ready market, and this gives so great a value to the crops, that the income derived from the estate seldom falls short of 60,000 dollars, (12,000l.) per annum. The Trōgĕs, or buildings erected to receive the grain, are very magnificently constructed; they are high, airy, and paved with large flat stones, varying in length from seventy to ninety feet. The accompanying drawing; will convey an idea of the style of building, which is, however, much superior to that of the generality of country houses in New Spain, and must not be taken as a criterion for others. Chăpĭngo lies about nine leagues from Mexico, and nearly as far from San Juan de Tĕŏtĭhuăcān. The road to this last