City of Mexico.—Private Dwellings.—Thieves.—Old Mexico.—Climate.—Tramways.—The Plaza Mayor.—City Streets.—The Grand Paseo.—Public Statues.—Scenes upon the Paseo.—The Paseo de la Viga.—Out-of-door Concerts.—A Mexican Caballero.—Lottery Ticket Venders.—High Noon.—Mexican Soldiers.—Musicians.—Criminals as Soldiers.—The Grand Cathedral. —The Ancient Aztec Temple.—Magnificent View from the Towers of the Cathedral.—Cost of the Edifice.—Valley of Anahuac 126 CHAPTER VIII. An Extinct Volcano.—Mexican Mountains.—The Public Institutions of the Capital. —The Government Palace.—The Museum.—Maximilian's State Carriage.—A Peculiar Plant.—The Academy of Fine Arts.—Choice Paintings.—Art School.—Picture Writing.—Native Artists.—Exquisite Pottery.—Cortez's Presents to Charles V.—A Special Aztec Art.—The Sacrificial Stone.—Spanish Historical Authorities.—Public Library.—The Plaza.—Flower Market.—A Morning Visit.—Public Market.—Concealed Weapons 150 CHAPTER IX. A City of Vistas.—Want of Proper Drainage.—Unfortunate Site.—Insecure Foundations.—A Boom in Building Lots.—Pleasant Suburbs.—Night Watchmen. —The Iturbide Hotel—A Would-be Emperor.—Domestic Arrangements.—A New Hotel wanted.—Places of Public Entertainment.—The Bull Ring.—Repulsive Performance.—Monte de Piedad.—An English Syndicate purchase it.—The Alameda.—The Inquisition.—Festal Days.—Pulque Shops.—The Church Party.—Gilded Bar-Rooms.—Mexican Marriages.—Mothers and Infants.—A Family Group 170 CHAPTER X. Benito Juarez's Grandest Monument.—Hotel del Jardin.—General José Morelos.—Mexican Ex-Convents.—City Restaurants.—Lady Smokers.—Domestic Courtyards.—A Beautiful Bird.—The Grand Cathedral Interior.—A Devout Lottery Ticket Vender.—Porcelain-Ornamented Houses.—Rogues in Church.—Expensive Justice.—Cemetery of San Fernando.—Juarez's Monument.—Coffins to Let.— American and English Cemetery.—A Doleful Street and Trade 194 CHAPTER XI. The Shrine of Guadalupe.—Priestly Miracles.—A Remarkable Spring.—The Chapels about the Hill.—A Singular Votive Offering.—Church of Nuestra Señora de Guadalupe.—Costly Decorations.—A Campo Santo.—Tomb of Santa Anna.—Strange Contrasts.—Guadalupe-Hidalgo.—The Twelve Shrines on the Causeway. —The Viga Canal.—The Floating Islands.—Indian Gamblers.—Vegetable Market.—Flower Girls.—The "Noche- Triste" Tree.—Ridiculous Signs.—Queer Titles.—Floral Festival 205 CHAPTER XII. Castle of Chapultepec.—"Hill of the Grasshopper."—Montezuma's Retreat.—Palace of the Aztec Kings.—West Point of Mexico.—Battles of Molino del Rey and Churubusco.—The Mexican White House.—High above Sea Level.—Village of Tacubaya.—Antique Carvings.—Ancient Toluca.—The Maguey.—Fine Scenery.—Cima.—Snowy Peaks.—Leon d'Oro.—The Bull-Ring and Cockpit.—A Literary Institution.—The Coral Tree.—Ancient Pyramids.—Pachuca.—Silver Product of the Mines.—A Cornish Colony.—Native Cabins.—Indian Endurance 220 CHAPTER XIII. Puebla, the Sacred City.—General Forey.—Battle-Ground.—View of the City.—Priestly Miracles.—The Cathedral.—Snow-Crowned Mountains.—A Cleanly Capital.—The Plaza Mayor.—A Typical Picture.—The Old Seller of Rosaries.—Mexican Ladies.—Palm Sunday.—Church Gala Day.—Education—Confiscation of Church Property.—A Curious Arch.—A Doll Image.—Use of Glazed Tiles. —Onyx a Staple Production.—Fine Work of Native Indian Women.—State of Puebla full of Rich Resources.—A Dynamite Bomb.—The Key of the Capital 241 CHAPTER XIV. Ancient Cholula.—A Grand Antiquity.—The Cheops of Mexico.—Traditions relating to the Pyramid.—The Toltecs.—Cholula of To-Day.—Comprehensive View.—A Modern Tower of Babel.—Multiplicity of Ruins.—Cortez's Exaggerations.— Sacrifices of Human Beings.—The Hateful Inquisition.—A Wholesale Murderous Scheme.—Unreliable Historians.—Spanish Falsification.—Interesting Churches. —Off the Track.—Personal Relics of Cortez.—Torturing a Victim.—Aztec Antiquities.—Tlaxcala.—Church of San Francisco.—Peon Dwellings.—Cortez and the Tlaxcalans 258 CHAPTER XV. Down into the Hot Lands.—Wonderful Mountain Scenery.—Parasitic Vines.—Luscious Fruits.—Orchids.—Orizaba.—State of Vera Cruz.—The Kodak.—Churches.—A Native Artist.—Schools.—Climate.—Crystal Peak of Orizaba.—Grand Waterfall. —The American Flag.—Disappointed Climbers.—A Night Surprise.—The French Invasion.—The Plaza.—Indian Characteristics.—Early Morning Sights.—Maximilian in Council.—Difficult Engineering.—Wild Flowers.—A Cascade.—Cordova.—The Banana.—Coffee Plantations.—Fertile Soil.—Market Scenes 282 CHAPTER XVI. The City of Vera Cruz.—Defective Harbor.—The Dreaded and also Welcome Norther.—San Juan d'Ulloa.—Landing of Cortez.—His Expedition Piratical.—View of the City from the Sea.—Cortez's Destruction of his Ships.—Anecdote of Charles V.—A Sickly Capital.—Street Scenes.—Trade.—The Mantilla.—Plaza de la Constitucion.—Typical Characters.—Brilliant Fireflies.—Well-To-Do Beggars.—Principal Edifices.—The Campo Santo.—City Dwelling-Houses.—The Dark-Plumed Buzzards.—A City Fountain.—A Varied History.—Medillin.—State of Vera Cruz 301 CHAPTER XVII. Jalapa.—A Health Resort.—Birds, Flowers,