CHAPTER XI.
MEXICO AND ITS SURROUNDINGS.
ICANNOT imagine a place which has more of interest to the traveler, than the city of Mexico, both within its walls and in its immediate surroundings. Paintings and statuary, fine old buildings, beautiful flowers, objects and points of historic interest, and women whose lovliness is proverbial, attract the attention of the traveler, go where he may. When I had been a week there, it seemed but a day, and with all the longing for home and its associations—to none dearer than to myself—I could but look forward with regret to the hour of our departure, two weeks later. If one could with safety, ride out unarmed and unaccompanied by guards, through the environs of Mexico, I know of no place where he could spend a whole year with more complete satisfaction. Mexico ought to be the Paradise of the earth, and the day is coming when it will be so considered. Even now, it presents almost irresistible attractions to the traveler, and the more one sees of it, the more one admires it, despite all its drawbacks.
We plunged at once into the enjoyment of life in the Capital and its vicinity, paying particular attention to the beautiful and historic surroundings, and suburban resorts. On the Sunday after our arrival, Mr. Seward's party, accompanied by Señor Romero and his accomplished American wife, and his sister Señorita Luz Ro-
