however pretty regularly built. It has tolerably broad streets, crossing each other at right angles, and three public squares. Among the private houses there are several very respectable buildings, but many of them in a dilapidated state, the town having suffered during the revolution. The neighbourhood is very well peopled, there being a great number of villages, the inhabitants of which formerly derived a good livelihood from the mines, but are now obliged to gain a subsistence by agriculture. The climate on the whole is mild, though less so than that of the capital: it seems, however, to be very healthy, for, though a great number of Europeans live in that town, not a single death took place among them during the three years that M. Burkart passed there.

Having described the internal arrangements of the houses of the better class of Mexicans as they existed in 1825, except in the capital, M. Burkart observes that the many foreigners who have since visited the country have made the inhabitants acquainted with the conveniences and luxuries of Europe, which, now that trade is free, they can obtain on much lower terms than under the Spanish monopoly.

Some European mechanics went to Mexico and made ample profits by manufacturing household furniture and other articles. at such reasonable prices, that the modern furniture was as cheap as that which was old-fashioned, and the Mexicans, who are fond of external show, were eager to exchange the old for the new. Hence a traveller must not be surprised if, even in the interior of the country, he does not find the old household arrangements in their originality. When M. Burkart visited Mexico for the first time in 1825, he found many things in manners, customs, and fashions, strikingly different from those of Europe. During his residence at Tlalpujahua he went every year to the capital, and at every visit found the influence of foreigners on the dress, the mode of living, and the state of society, to be progressively increasing; so that on his last visit, in 1828, he could scarcely persuade himself that he was in the same city. One of the most inveterate of their customs is that of smoking cigars, to which both sexes pertinaciously adhere. Yet foreigners have succeeded in first persuading the ladies in Mexico that smoking does not become them. Hence young ladies are more rarely seen smoking in places of public resort; in the theatre, and at balls in the capital, this practice is no longer seen, and the separate smoking room for the ladies at the latter has therefore become superfluous.

Religious intolerance is a feature of the Mexicans, which it will probably be more difficult to remove than to cure the habit of smoking.

"The Roman Catholic church alone is tolerated in Mexico, and even the ambassadors of foreign powers of a different religion are not allowed the public celebration of divine worship. Though the authority of the clergy has considerably declined, it is still very great, and the Mexicans are firmly attached to the ceremonies of the Catholic Church. But the revenues of the churches and convents have very much diminished since the Revolution, as the voluntary contributions have fallen off; so that it is hardly advisable to take the vows, which indeed is now seldom done. In 1827 there were in Mexico 25 Dominican, 68 Franciscan, 22 Augustine, and 16 Carmelite convents, and 19 of other orders, in all 150, in which there were 1918 monks, besides six colegias de propaganda fide, which contained 307 inmates. In 1802 there were still about 5000 monks in Mexico.

The

"Most of the parish priests are natives. Formerly the superior clergy were all Spaniards. The parochial clergy have no fixed salaries, but derive their income entirely from fees for masses, christenings, marriages, funerals, &c., which are proportionably high, and the income of a priest of a numerous congregation is therefore considerable; but those of poorer parishes have a very scanty income. priest of Tlalpujahua is said to have had an income of 4000 piastres a-year while the English Mining Company was there; he however derived a large revenue from the custom of blessing all buildings, machines, adits, &c. before they were used; this benediction or consecration was usually accompanied with great festivities. Besides this, in many districts, a priest is present at the hiring of the miners, from each of whom he receives half a real (the sixteenth part of a piastre) per week; for which, on the death of the miner, a mass must be read gratis for the deceased. He is besides obliged to pay for his baptism, marriage, and burial. These fees are high, but do not bear so hard on the miner as on the Indian employed in agriculture, who in the cheap districts earns only two reals, a quarter of a piastre, a-day, and pays from 20 to 25 piastres for his marriage, and from 8 to 12 piastres for the burial of a child."

These fees are certainly enormously high; for, reckoning the piastre at 4s. 8d., these Indians will earn 7s. a-week. In some parts of Great Britain the agricultural labourers do not earn much more; but we can guess what would be the consequence, if they were called upon to pay a fee of four guineas and a half for marriage, and from 17. 16s. to 27. 14s. for the funeral of a child.

Though many Mexicans are not very zealous in the exercise of their religious duties, often neglect for a long time together to attend divine worship, and speak with great freedom of their clergy, they are just as intolerant to persons of a different religion. At the beginning of my residence in Mexico, it was necessary for every foreigner to be very cautious in speaking of religion, and to take care not to say that he was of a different church. In general all foreigners are supposed not to be catholics. The words Jew, Heretic, Englishman, and Foreigner, were

at that time employed by the common people as synonymous terms of abuse; and while we were at Tlalpujahua, the foreigners were several times attacked by monks in the pulpit, though most of them were catholics and regularly attended church. The clergy felt already at that time that the visits of numerous foreigners weakened their power, which rested on the blind attachment of the people, and they endeavoured to preserve it as long as possible, by cherishing the hatred of foreigners, with which the Spaniards had inspired the Mexicans."

In March, 1828, our author undertook a journey_to_the Nevado de Toluca, in company with Mr. Skin, and M. C. de Berghes, of the German-American mining company, and other friends. The distance from Tlalpujahua to Iztlahuaca, which was the place of their destination, being fifteen leagues, they sent horses the day before to Tepetitlan (about half-way), that they might be able to change there. For the distance of two leagues from this place, the road lay through a fine forest of Weymouth pines, rarely interrupted by oaks, of which M. Burkart observed five different kinds. The forest between Tlalpujahua and Tepetitlan was one of the finest he had ever seen, but he was most surprised at the wasteful manner in which the timber is cut, hundreds of stems of the finest trees lying on the ground to rot. The country is extremely fertile, and wants only population to rival the most productive parts of Europe. There are fine fields of maize and barley. The environs of Toluca and La Huerta are extremely attractive. The neighbourhood of the high mountain, the great contrast between the natural productions of the torrid zone, and the summit of the Nevado, covered with eternal snow, the villages and haciendas with cultivated districts around, give it a luxuriance of natural beauty and an appearance of industry which are wanting in many of the finer parts of the Mexican isthmus.

"We left Toluca early in the morning of the 25th of March, intending to ascend the Nevado (or snowy mountain) the same day, and, after a short ride through a rich, well cultivated country, arrived at the Hacienda la Huerta. Here I was advised not to make the attempt that day, as only a short stay on the Nevado was possible, and the ascent and descent required a whole day; I therefore resolved to employ the rest of the day in examining the formations spread round the foot, and accurately to observe the height of the mercury in the barometer at La Huerta, and to repeat it on the two following days. By this I obtained a mean of 21,637 inches English, the temperature of the atmosphere being 13.8°, and that of the mercury 14° of the centigrade thermometer, by which the elevation of the Hacienda above the level of the sea appears to be 8993 Rheinland feet. At this elevation, barley and maize thrive here very well, and the Capulina cherry was in full blossom. **** The country in the neighbourhood of La Huerta is extremely picturesque :

it lies in a well cultivated plain, in which there are many small farms and villages. In the back-ground are finely wooded mountains extending to the snowy regions; but the countryman in Mexico lives in a miserable manner even in the most fertile parts, and the traveller must be very moderate in his demands for convenience and provisions. La Huerta had been represented to me as a great estate, so that I neglected the usual precaution of bringing bread and rice with me, especially as I had no objection at times to a genuine Mexican repast, which I concluded I should certainly find at La Huerta."

The author, however, found nothing, and was obliged to send a servant two leagues to purchase provisions.

"The Nevado, or volcano, of Toluca, lies according to Humboldt in 19° 11′ 33′′ north latitude, and 101° 45′ 38′′ longitude west of Paris, and 27 leagues south-east of Tlalpujahua. I found its elevation above the level of the sea to be 15,263 English feet.

Many travellers who intend to ascend the Nevado take a guide at Toluca; these, however, are not so well acquainted with the way as the Indians about La Huerta, and it is therefore better to take a guide from this last place.

"On the following morning, accompanied by a guide on horseback and another on foot, we set out at four o'clock, to ascend the Nevado. At first, the ascent was gentle towards the south over cultivated land, but the cultivation ceased half a league from La Huerta. A fine wood of firs covered the acclivity, on which we continued gently to ascend. We soon came to one of the many valleys, which extend north and east from the higher mountain, like radii from a centre. The cold was the more unpleasant till a short time after sun-rise, as we had, on the preceding day, very sensibly felt the heat on the plateau of Lerma. About a league and a half from La Huerta, on the way to the Rancho la Ordeña, I first saw trachyte-porphyry, of a grey colour. About eight o'clock we reached the Rancho la Ordeña, a small hut belonging to a herdsman, 11,532 feet (Rheinland) above the level of the sea, three leagues south of La Huerta, the last human habitation that you meet with on the way to the Nevado, in a region which in 45° of latitude is far above the line of eternal snow. The barometer was here at eight a. m. at 19,734 English inches, the temperature of the air being 8.33, and that of the mercury 9.44 degrees of the centigrade thermometer. Half a league before we reached the Rancho, the way became much more steep than at the beginning, and was still more so after we had passed it. Our cattle were much affected by the rarefied atmosphere, but the vegetation was still luxuriant. The pine attained here as great a height as I ever saw it with us.

Thus we ascended, in a southerly direction, for a league and a half, over trachyte-porphyry, till suddenly the trees ceased, and the summit of the Nevado (its north side) covered with perpetual snow, appeared rising into the skies. Only a few steps further on, we were obliged to alight and ascend the summit on foot, our cattle being too much exhausted by ascending at this elevation; only a few tufts of grass, with

a very narrow crumpled leaf, appeared scattered between the boulders of trachyte-porphyry.**** At the place where we left our cattle, immediately above the line where the growth of the trees ceases on the north side, and immediately under the snow line, we were 4569 (Rheinland) feet above Toluca, and 13,004 feet above the sea. The snow-line on the Nevado is however not constant. It is said to be in general at the lowest in January, and at the highest in September and October, so that in those two months the snow nearly disappears. But when we were there we found an exception to the rule-the snow which had fallen a week before having brought the snow-line lower than it had been in January, when I was at Toluca.

"So far our way had ascended, at first under an angle of 4° to 6o and afterwards from 9° to 11°, but here the mountain suddenly rose at an angle of 30° to 32°, and we soon reached the snow, which was in many places two feet deep. The ascent of the steep mountain in the snow, and the extremely rarefied atmosphere, was excessively fatiguing. Even in the first quarter of an hour I could scarcely proceed 140 or 150 steps without stopping. Our guide fared no better, and my travelling companion still worse. We were obliged to rest every four or five minutes to take breath. The difficulty of breathing, and consequently of ascending, increased, and I could scarcely go sixty steps without stopping. It was rather cold, and we could hardly avoid falling asleep whenever we stopped; but though very weary our wish to reach the summit impelled us to go on.

"But how shall I express my surprise and my joy, when after so many exertions, and ascending for two good hours in the snow, I suddenly saw the crater of the extinct volcano before me! **** Another

step from the point where we ascended the edge of the crater would have sufficed to precipitate us into it. We were at an elevation of 6191 feet above Toluca, and 14,636 above the sea, but had not yet reached the highest point of the edge of the crater. Close to us, rocks were piled upon rocks, which I could not ascend from this point without danger, as a false step might have precipitated me into the crater, or caused me to fall on the outside, which was equally steep. The two rocks called Los Frailes, (the monks), form here the highest point, which is 14,818 Rheinland feet above the level of the sea.'

The author here gives a description of the crater, with a copper-plate, from which we extract the following particulars.

"Two low ridges within the crater, divide it into two unequal parts, in each of which there is a small basin full of water; that on the north is the largest. To judge by the sand which they deposit, the elevation of the surface appears often to change. I found it to be 4999 feet above Toluca ; 1374 feet below the highest point of the edge of the crater, a depth which, in conjunction with the width of the crater, leaves us to form a judgment of the violence and extent of the former eruptions of this volcano. This difference of elevation appears to have been much greater in former times, for at present it evidently decreases every day. The frequent falling and melting of the snow, the very rapid and great changes