Page:Vol 4 History of Mexico by H H Bancroft.djvu/155

Rh Situated at the bottom of a deep and narrow hollow, round which on all sides rise lofty mountains, its position in a military point of view is one of the worst. On the south side rises the hill of San Miguel, while from the north the cerro del Cuarto extends like a wedge into the city. So irregular is the site that it might well be described by crumpling a sheet of paper. On the plaza itself but few level spots can be found, and few of the streets accommodate carriages. Most of the houses occupy slopes so steep that in many cases the floor of one is on a level with the roof of another. An extension of this rugged hollow runs off in the form of a rocky valley south-westerly to Marfil, a league distant, and known by the name of the cañada de Marfil. Its whole length was occupied by workshops, mills, and other buildings connected with mining. Formerly the only carriage entrance into the city lay through this glen. To the east of the city rises the river Guanajuato, here a mere mountain torrent, which sweeping in a winding course through the city unites with the Rio de la Cata flow ing from the north-west. Although situated on a rising ground, the alhóndiga was so close to the cerro del Cuarto that the houses built on the steep of that height were only separated from it by a narrow street and a small plaza, not more than twenty-five yards wide. On the south-east of the alhóndiga was the convent of Belen, from which it was separated by the descent of Mendizábal, and on the south and west were the extensive workshops and premises of the hacienda de Dolores where the precious metals were treated. On the north, extending east and west, was the street of los Pozitos in a straight line with the descent to the Rio de la Cata, which was spanned