Page:Mexico in 1827 Vol 2.djvu/572

552 to decay; and not half the quantity of grain is raised that might be produced.

The wood, or "Monte" of Muleros, consists exclusively of three species of trees, called Tăscātĕ, Guĭsāchĕ, and Mēzquītĕ, the last of which grows there to a size such as I had not before seen.

I left the Calabazal twenty minutes before nine, and reached Graseros, (an Estancia, or Rancho, belonging to Muleros,) at a quarter-past ten.

From thence to the Hacienda of San Qŭintīn, the stage is long, and the latter part very fatiguing. For some leagues the road runs through a continuation of the Mezquite forest, which commences near Mŭlērŏs, but traverses the lands of several other Haciendas, In this the country is level, and the road good; but about three leagues from San Quintin our progress was interrupted by an immense mass of volcanic remains, forming an elevated ridge or bank, and stretching across the plain towards the North-east, with arms or branches extending in every direction. Towards the West, it terminates abruptly in a mass of black vesicular lava, overgrown with cactus and mezquite, and totally unconnected with the sandy soil around. Indeed it was curious to observe how completely each little patch or accumulation of lava stood isolated in the plain, following the course of the principal bank, but looking as if it had just dropped from the clouds into its present situation.

After threading our way with difficulty through