Page:Notes of the Mexican war 1846-47-48.djvu/456

450 beautiful pictures. Ruins are plenty and visible, all overgrown with wild flowers, bushes and creeping vines which gives a melancholy-and picturesque air to the scene.

Polque plants and cactus literally covered the ground, and around and below can be seen the venerable cypress groves, said to have shaded the tribes of the Montezumas.

Eastward runs the great aqueduct of San Cosme and Belen, along which our gallant little army of six thousand fought their way in the city, and pursued the flying army of Gen. Santa Anna. Here we can see gardens with the rarest of flowers and plants; the ruby humming birds darting here and there on the flowers; fountains; the Aztec baths; caves, etc., all now sadly decayed.

The Castle is two hundred and fifty feet above the plains of Mexico. No ruler could wish for a fairer spot than the lofty hill of Chapultepec. The cypress trees (mentioned above), are planted in regular rows and are magnificent, they no doubt shaded the tents of the Aztecs from the hot summer sun.

The chief of all the forest trees is the tree of Montezuma, which has a mean circumference of forty-five feet, and towers far above the groves of which it is the acknowledged monarch.

There are different authorities as to when and who first built this castle; the theory is, that it was built by King Autcolt, Montezumas' father. It was built as a resort and lookout place for the rulers of Mexico. It is built of porphyry, marble and hard sand-stone, on a high rock.

We left the castle, and on our return, we passed along the Paso through the garita (gate) piedad (piety), where the Mexicans made the last bold stand in defending their city, but all no go, our American steel was too sharp for them; we returned and on our way, we stopped at the polque tub and had a good drink of the same. Here we saw five or six pig-skins tied up lying in the hot sun, the pig-skins looked like so many fresh dressed hogs' carcasses.