and marigolds, our autumnal flowers—September, and these autumnal flowers still bloom, and with them you have mignonette and roses, and then pinks and jasmine, and other flowers. In fact there seems to be no particular season for anything.
The weather at present is neither warm nor cold, but colder here than in Mexico, and when it does not rain, it is lovely. Already there has been much rain, and the torrents are so swelled, that there was some doubt as to whether our carriages could pass them.
Yesterday, at five in the morning, we left Mexico, in a coach once the property of Charles the Tenth. "Sic transit," &c.; and a most luxurious travelling carriage is that of his Ex-Majesty, entirely covered with gilding, save where the lilies of France surmount the crown, (sad emblems of the fallen dynasty!) lined with white satin, with violet-colored binding, the satin cushions most excellently stufled; large, commodious, and with a movement as soft as that of a gondola.
A Frenchman bought it on a speculation, and brought it here for sale. In former days, from its gilding and showy appearance, it would have brought any price; but the taste for gaudy equipages has gone by since the introduction of foreign and especially of English carriages; and the present proprietor, who bought it for its intrinsic good qualities, paid but a moderate sum for it. In this carriage, drawn by six strong horses, with two first-rate coachmen, and several out-riders well armed, we went along at great speed. The drivers, dressed Mexican
