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Show u. :BOOK I. ' .. H I S T 0 R Y 0 F M E X I C 0. command the coaft. In hot countries there is never any white froff, and moft inhabitants of fuch regions have no other idea of fnow than that which they receive from the reading of books, or the accounts of {hangers. Lands which are very high, or. very near to very high mountains which are perpetually covered w1th fnow, are c~ld; and I have beeH upon a mountain not more than tw~nty-five mtl~s, removed from the capital, where there has been white froft and 1ce even in the dog-days. All the other inland coun~ries, .where . the greatell: population prevailed, enjoy a climate fo mild and bemgn, they neither feel the rigour of w~nter, no~· the heats of ~ummer. It is true, in many of thefe countnes there 1s frequently wh1te froft in the three months' of December, January, and February, and fometimes even it fnows; but the fmall inconvenience which fuch cold occafions, continues only till the 1-i:fing fun : · no other fire than his rays, is necefiary to give warmth in winter; no other relief is wanted in the feafon of heat, but the ihade; the fame clothing which covers mea in the dog-days, defends them in January,; and the animals fieep all the year under the open iky. This mildnefs and agreeablenefs of climate under the torrid zone, is the effeCt of feveral natural caufes, entirely unknown to the ancients, who believed it uninhabitable ; and not well under11:ood by fome moderns, by whom it is ell:eemed unfavourable to thofe who live in it. The purity of the atmofp.here, the fmaller obliquity of the folar rays, and the longer 11:ay of this luminary upon the horizon in winter, in comparifon of other regions farther removed from the equator, concur to lefien the cold, and to prevent all that horror which disfigures the face of natur~ in other climes. During that feafon, a ferenc fky and the natural delights of the country, are· enjoyed; whereas under the frigid, and even for the .moil: part under the temperate zones,. the clouds rob man of the profpeCt of heaven, and the fnow buries the beautiful produeti<;ms of the earth. No lefs caufes, combine to temper the heat of fummer. The plentiful fhowers which frequently water the earth after mid-day, from pril or May, to September or OClober; the high mountains continually loaded with fnow, fcattered here and there .through the country of Anahuac; the cool winds which breathe from them in that fcafon ; and H I S T 0 R Y 0 F M E X I C 0. and the ihorter :ll:ay of the fun upon the horizon, compared with the circumftances of the temperate zone, transform the fummer of thofe happy countries into a cool and chearful fpring. But the agreeablenefs of the climate is counterbalanced by thunder il:orms, which are frequent in fummer, particularly in the vicinity of Matlalcucje or the mountain of Tlafclala, and by earthquakes which at all times are felt, although with lefs danger than terror. Thefe fidl: and laft effeCls are occafioned by the fulphur and other combuftible materials, depofited in great abundance in the bowels of the earth. Storms of hail are neither more frequent nor more 'fevere than in Europe. The fire kindled in the bowels of the earth by the ful phureous and bituminous materials, has made vents for itfelf in fome of the mountains or volcanos, from whence flames are often feen to i1Tue, and afhes and fmoke. There are five mountains in the di11:ritt of the Mexican empire, where at different times this dreadful ph::enomenon has been obferved. Pojauhtccatl, called by the Spaniard, Volcan d'Ori: l.:rzba, began to fend forth finoke, in the year 1 54 5, and continued to do fo for twenty years : but after that, for the fpace of more than two centuries, there has not been obferved the fmallell: fign of burning. This celebrated mountain, which is of a conical figure, is indifputably the highell: land of all Anahuac; and on account of its height, i. the fidl: land defcried by feamen who are 11:eering that way, at the difiance of fifty leagues (m). Its top is always covered with fi1ow, and its border adorned with large cedar, pine, and other trees of valuable wood, which make the profpeCl of it every way beautiful. It is di11:ant from the capital upwards of ninety miles to the eaft ward. The Popocatepec and Iztaccihuatl, which lay near each other, but thirty-three miles dill:ant from Mexico towards the fouth -ea!t, are alfo of a furprifing height. Popocatepec, for which they have fubfl:itutcd (m) Pojaubtrrntl is highet· than Taidc or the Peak of Tenerilfc, according to P. Tallandier the Jcfui t, who made obfcrvation s on them both : vide Lcllri'S Edi}iaiiiN, &c. Thomas Gage fays of the Popocatrpec, it is :u high as the higheU A Ips : he migh t h:t re added, fomcthing higher, if he had ndcnlated the elevated ilation on ' ,, hich this cc l ~ bl':lted mountain rifcs. the .. 13 BOOK I. -- , SEer. V. Mountains, Stones, and Minerals. • • |