Page:Mexico in 1827 Vol 2.djvu/701

Rh, to Sĭnăpēcuărŏ, where Mrs. Ward and the rest of the party slept. This town is the head of a Partido, or district, containing 25,174 inhabitants, and abounding in the ordinary productions of the Table-land. The name is derived from the Indian word "Tzĭnāpŭ," which, in the language of Ŏtŏmīs, or Tărāscŏs, signifies Obsidian, a great abundance of which is found in the vicinity of the town. By a grammar of the Tarascan tongue in my possession, the language appears to be very far from simple. The alphabet consists of only twenty-one letters, five vowels and sixteen consonants. F and L are not known. The L (as already observed) is particularly prevalent in the Aztec language, while the R, rejected by the Aztecs, is almost universal amongst the Ŏtŏmīs. Yet the two tribes emigrated from the North together, and continued allies, until, from too close a neighbourhood, they became enemies, and were both overwhelmed by the common foe. A pure breed of the Ŏtŏmīs still exists in many parts of Valladolid. They live chiefly in the mountainous districts, and never intermarry with any other tribe.

At Indăpărāpĕŏ, I quitted the high road to the Capital, and struck off across the mountains to Ozūmătlān, a little isolated district, where the Real del Monte Company is working the mines of San Pedro Barreno, Los Apostoles, and La Machorra.

Ozūmătlān is exceedingly difficult of access, the mountains being intersected by immense ravines, and