SECTION II.
RESIDENCE IN THE CAPITAL; AND RETURN TO THE COAST.
The approach to Mexico did not give us a very favourable idea either of the Capital, or of the country about it. The valley on the Otumba side possesses none of the beautiful features which are so remarkable to the South and East; for, having more recently formed a part of the great lake of Tĕzcūcŏ, which in the rainy season still extends as far as San Crĭstōbăl, the waters in receding have left a barren tract, covered with a crust of Carbonate of Soda. Sterility prevails, with few interruptions, from the village of Săn Jūān dĕ Tĕŏtĭhuăcān to the Convent of Guădălūpĕ, in which the Virgin of Guadalupe, the Patroness of Mexico, has taken up her abode. A drawing of this rich but singular building will be found in the first volume : it is difficult to say to what style of architecture it belongs, as all pretentions to uniformity are destroyed by the Capillas, (chapels,) erected in the vicinity of the principal
