cipally in the tierra caliente. Poisonous serpents are unknown at an elevation above seven thousand feet. Both land and fresh-water snakes exist in Mexico.
The most common species are the rattlesnake, or cascabel; the darting-snake, or saltillo; the black-snake, or culebra; and the centoatl, whose skin shines in the dark.
Among the sirens, the siredon, or axolotl, having a length of ten to fifteen inches, is found in the Lake of Texcoco, and in lagoons of the adjoining mountains. During the war of the Conquest, the axolotl was so plentiful that Cortes is said to have fed his army upon it.
The many fresh-water lakes of Mexico are well stocked with fish (pescado), the principal kinds being the bass, eel, trout, white-fish, and bagre. The flesh of the latter is delicious and is extensively used for food. The waters along the coast of the Republic likewise afford a great variety.
The red mullet, or mujol, is a favorite article of food among the Mexicans. It was this kind of fish that was carried by swift-footed couriers from Vera Cruz to the ancient capital, a distance of two hundred miles, for Montezuma's table.
