Page:Travels in Mexico and life among the Mexicans.djvu/380

372 to turn to the history of Vesuvius to confirm this. The formation of the volcano of Jorullo in Mexico, in 1759, is another example, when from a fertile and highly cultivated plain were thrown up six hills of fire, the central one rising to a height of sixteen hundred feet.

Until within a few years, the ascent of Popocatapetl was rendered more tedious and discouraging than at present by the long horseback ride of sixty miles necessary to be taken from Mexico as a preliminary to the actual climb up the mountain. At the present time this difficulty is obviated by the passing of a line of railroad near the actual base of the volcano, so that one can leave the city in the morning and reach the snowline before night, ascending the summit and returning the next day. This railroad, the Morelos, leaves the city at the gate of San Lazaro, near where the main sewer flows with sluggish current towards Lake Tezcoco; from the odors of which sewer, and from the congregations of filthy beggars that assemble at the arrival and departure of trains, one will understand why this suburb is named after Lazarus, king of mendicants. You may take a horse-car at the Plaza at seven in the morning, and the