Page:Mexico in 1827 Vol 2.djvu/318

302 Rey. The inhabitants have the same dark tint; the sky the same glowing aspect; and although the vomito is unknown, in the rainy season agues prevail, of so violent a nature, as almost to partake of the character of the typhus, and to be hardly less injurious in their effects upon the constitution.

The town of Cuernavaca lies 2,040 feet lower than Mexico, and 4,400 feet below the Cruz del Mărqūes, which is the highest point of the intervening ridge. It is a place of no great importance in itself, and only derives interest from the richness of the surrounding district. During the two days which I passed there, I visited two of the great Haciendas de Azucar, (Sugar Estates,) mentioned in the first Book, San Găbrĭĕl and Ātlăcŏmūlcŏ, the first of which belongs to the family of Yērmŏ, the second to that of the Duke of Monteleone, the present representative of the house of Cortez. I found in both the same exuberant fertility of soil, the same abundance of water for irrigation, and the same inattention to comfort or cleanliness, in the vicinity of the house, which, in the valleys of Cūāūtlă and Cuĕrnăvācă, seldom denotes by its appearance the value of the estate. The average produce of San Găbrĭĕl is calculated at forty thousand Arrobas of sugar (each of 25lbs.); that of Ātlăcŏmūlcŏ does not exceed thirty thousand; in addition to which, however, there is a Coffee plantation containing about fifty thousand young plants, which appeared to be in a very thriving state. The distance of these