OCR Text |
Show ' JO H I S T 0 R Y 0 F M E X 1 C 0. B 0 0 K. I. The river of the Jopi waters. the country of that nation, and fl~ws \... ...- .,. .--~ out fifteen miles to the eafiward of the port of Acapulco; formmg in that quarter the dividing line between the diocefes of Mexico and Angelopoli. • . . There were bdides, and fiill are, feverallakes, which did not lefs embellilh the countr.y than give convenience to the commerce cJf thofe people. The lake of Nicaragua, of Chapallan, and Pazqu~ro, which were the moil: confiderable, did not belong to the Mexican empire. Amongfi the others, the mofi important to our hifiory, are thofe two in the vale of Mexico, which we have already fpoken of. The lake of Chalco extended twelve miles from eaft to weft, as far as the city of Xochimilco, and from thence taking, for as many miles, a northerly direCtion, incorporated itfelf by means of a canal, with the lake of Tetzcuco; but its breadth did not exceed fix miles . . The lake of Tetzcuco extended fifteen miles, or rather feventeen from eafi to weft, and fomething more from fouth to north; but at prefent its extent is much lefs, for the Spaniards have diverted into new channels many rivers which formerly ran into it. All the water which a1fembles there is at firfi fweet, and becomes fait afterwards, from the nitrous bed of the lake when: it is received (h). Befides thefe two great lakes, there were in the fame vale of Mexico, and to the north of the coaf\:, two fmaller ones, named after the cities of Tzompanco, and Xaltoccan. The lake of Tochtlan, in the province of Coatzacualco, makes a fweet profpeCt, and its banks a mbft delightful dwelling. With refpett to fountains, there are fo many in that land, and fo different in quality, they would deferve a feparate hiftory, efpecially if we had to enumerate thofe of the kingdom of Michuacan. There are an infinity of nitrous, fulphureous, vitriolic, and alluminous mineral waters, fome of which (h) M. de Bomare fays, in his Dit\ionary of N:~tural Hillary, that the. fait of the Mexicnn lnke may proceed from the waters of the ocean i 11 the north being filtered through the earth ; and to corroborate his opinion he quotes Le Jotlrllal des S;avmu, of the year 1676. But this is truly a grofs error, becaufc that lake is one hundred :~nd eighty miles di tl an.t from the ocean ; befidcs, the bed of this lake is fo elevated, that it has at lea!l one mile of perpendicular height above the level of thP- fea. The :monymOliS author of the work intitlecf, Ohforvatiolu t'urieujiiS ji1r /e Lm· de Mexiqru, (the work exprefsly from which the journalitls of Paria have made their extra£l:s,) is very far from adopting the error of M. de Bomare. fpring HISTORY OF ME' XICO~ fpring out fo hot, that in a few moments any kind of fruit or animal food is boiled in them. There are alfo petrifying waters,. namely thofc of Tehuacan, a city about one hundred and twenty miler. dill:ant from Mexico towards the fouth-eafi, thofe of the fpring of Pucuaro in the ftates of the Conte di Miravalles,. in the kingdom of Michuacan, and that of a river in the province of the ~elcni . \Vith the water of Pucuaro they make little white fmooth ftones,. not difplenfing to the ta!l:e; fcrapings from which taken in broth, or in Atolli ( i) are moO: powerful diaphoretics, and are ufed with remarkable fuccef~ in various kinds of fever,s (k). The citizens of Mexico during the time of their kings, fupplied themfelves with water from the great fpring of Chapoltepec, which was conveyed' to the city by an aqueduct, of which, we fhall fpeak hereafter. J n mentioning the waters of that kingdom, if the plan of our hifl:ory would perm_it, we might deicribe the ftupendous falls or cafcadcs of feveral rivers (!), and the bridges which nature has formed over others, particularly the Ponte di Dio: thus they call in that country a va£l: volume of earth thrnwn acrofs the deep river Atoyaque, cloie to the village of Molcaxac, about one hundred miles to the foutheall:: from Mexico, along which, coaches and carriages conveniently pafs. It i3 probable, it has been a fragment of a neighbouring mountain, thrown from it by fome. former earthquake. The climate of the countries of Anahuac varies according to their fituation. The maritime countries are hot, and for the moft part moifl: and unhealthy. Their heat, which occafions fweat even in January, is owing to the perfeCl: flatnefs of the coafts compared with the inland country; or from the mountains of £md that gather upon the fl10re, which is the cafe with Vera Cruz my native country.1 The moi!l:ure proceeds not lefs from the fea than from the abundance of waters defcending from the mountains which (i) Atolli is the name gi vcn hy the Mcxkans, to a gruel made of maiz or Indian corn; of which we fl1all fpeak in another place. (k) The little Ouncs of Pucuaro have been known but a 1hort time. l have myfclf been :m eye witncfs of their wonderful effccr, in the epidemic of 1 i 6z. The dofe prefcribed for one \l ho is cafily brought to fwcat is one drachm of the fcrapings. (/) Amonglt the cal'cadcs there is one famous, made by the great r•ver Guadalaxara, in a place calleJ Tempizquc, fifteen miles to the fouthwanl of that city, C 2 command \ ll B 0.0 K I. ~ Ss cT. JV. Climate of Anahuac. |