Page:Notes of the Mexican war 1846-47-48.djvu/474

468 coaches. He has been driving stages through the different directions from this city to Toluca; and, before the war, drove to Puebla City, and back. He tells me that his coach has been robbed more than fifty times, and that he never was hurt, except once; that time he refused to stop, when the robbers fired, and then he was wounded in the arm. One passenger was killed, because he refused to give up his cash.

After the stage was filled, and the fare (twenty-five cents) collected, the driver was ordered to go; and off we went at a full gallop for about one mile, when he pulled in his horses, and went on at a slow trot.

The scene through the valley we passed was beautiful with polque groves. Shrubs were chiefly of the cactus order, and the creeping vines tangled the thicket over the little stream. After we arrived in the Plaza de la Constitucion we went straight to the grand cathedral, which is the mother church of all Mexico. It is capable of holding over twenty-five thousand people. The dimensions of the cathedral is as follows:—From the north to the south is four hundred and twenty-six feet, from the east to the west is nearly five hundred feet; the height of the roof is one hundred and seventy-five feet. It was finished in 1667, and cost over $2,000,000.

On the west side of the corner is walled in the original Aztec calendar. It was cut off a block of basalt, weighing over twenty-five tons. Its diameter is nearly seven feet. It has been in this wall since August 13, 1790, a memorable day in Mexico, and it is supposed to date back as far as 1279. It is divided into three hundred and sixty-five days, with an interpolation of thirteen days for each cycle of fifty-two years. The stone is almost a perfect square in form.

Inside the highest altar, raised from the elevated platform, exhibits a profusion of candlesticks, crosses, and other idol ornaments of gold and silver.

What St. Peter's is to Rome, what St. Paul's is to London, what Notre Dame is to Paris, the cathedral is to Mexico. It is the most popular resort of the Catholic faith that there is in this country.