Page:Mexico in 1827 Vol 2.djvu/244

branches off. The first is a summer palace, built by the celebrated Count Galvez during his Viceroyalty, upon a rock, to the foot of which the waters of the lake of Tĕzcūcŏ formerly extended. Nothing can be more beautiful than its situation, or more striking than the view of the valley of Mexico which it commands. The road to Chăpūltĕpēc is divided by an aqueduct, which separates the portion of it destined for carts and mules, from that intended for carriages and equestrians. The structure of this aqueduct is solid; it consists of nine hundred arches, and the fountain, from which it is supplied, produces the clearest and most pellucid water I almost ever saw. On entering the gardens of Chăpūltĕpēc, the first object that strikes the eye is the magnificent Cypress, (Sabino, Ăhŭahuētē, or Cupressus disticha,) called the Cypress of Montezuma. It had attained its full growth when that monarch was on the throne, (1520,) so that it must now be, at least, four hundred years old, yet it still retains all the vigour of youthful vegetation. The trunk is forty-one feet in circumference, yet the height is so majestic, as to make even this enormous mass appear slender. On a close inspection, it appears to be composed of three trees, the trunks of which unite towards the root so closely, as to blend into one; this circumstance, however, led us to give the preference to a second Cypress, not quite equal to the first in circumference, (it is thirty-eight feet in girth,) but as old, as lofty, and distinguished by a slight