Page:Travels in Mexico and life among the Mexicans.djvu/201

Rh the famous mountain of Perote, called by an Aztec name signifying casket, in Spanish cofre, from its rectangular shape, and near its base the town of Perote, where American prisoners were confined in 1847. Though we had looked anxiously for that plant from which the town derived its name, that tried friend of old-school physicians, jalap,—Ipomoea Jalapa,—we had not been successful. Only the name remains, though the plant may still be hidden in some dark ravine, or in the deep forest, like the vanilla, for which the coast country below was formerly celebrated.

My companions on the way up were the celebrated artist, Church, painter of "The Heart of the Andes," and his lovely wife, who were then on their return trip towards the United States, and who expressed themselves as delighted with the mountain scenery of the plateau. It was early morning as we left Jalapa on the downward trip, left it still crouching beneath the clouds that hovered over it, and scampered—or our mules did—down the hills. The mules were whipped into a gallop, and changed every three leagues, so that the journey to the coast was half accomplished ere the sun made it very hot.

"The worse the road, the harder ply the whip," is the motto of all Mexican drivers; so we sped through the pass of Cerro Gordo at an awful rate, taking sharp curves and spinning over its tortuous road at top speed. Beyond Rinconada, we descended the steep grades in a cloud of dust, racing with the second and third class cars, the heat growing more and more oppressive every mile; and in this manner we ran into the hot country again, and on the morrow took the train for the capital.