waters, and overflow into the lower lakes, so that several parts of Mexico were laid eighteen inches under water. The alarmed citizens at once bestirred themselves; causeways were raised according to the plans of the engineer Boot; a new dam was constructed near Tizayuca; another to divert the Rio Pachuca, and work on the drainage tunnel received fresh impulse.[1]
The decrease of moisture in the following year calmed the ardor of both workers and taxpayers, and many useful projects were set aside as needless. In 1629 the rains began early with the prospect of a wet season. Dams broke at several points, and already on the 5th of September canoes floated in several parts of the city, and thousands prepared to depart. On the 21st, St Matthew's day, came the heaviest rainfall so far known in the valley; and it continued for thirty-six hours, till the whole city lay under water to a depth of fully two varas in most parts.[2] The confusion and misery defy description. All seemed one vast lake dotted with thousands of isolated houses. Roofs and windows were crowded with men, women, and children, drenched and suffering from hunger and exposure. From every direction rose lamentation, mingled with the agonized cries of drowning persons and noise of crumbling walls. While some buildings were undermined with the melting of the adobe brick, or the washing away of the foundation, others were carried wholly away. The costly goods in shops and warehouses were ruined, and broken furniture and
- ↑ Cavo, followed by modern writers, places some of these measures in 1626, and states that the flood of 1627 gave rise merely to useless consultations, Tres Siglos, i. 278; but Alegre, Hist. Comp. Jesus, ii. 178, confirms the more natural supposition that the flood gave impulse to dams and other works. The dam near Tizayuca, called Presa del Rey, was made or completed in 1628. Inundaciones, in Col. de Diarios, 356.
- ↑ 'Llegó a tener dos barcas de alto el agua por donde menos.' Cepeda, Rel., pt. ii. 27. 'Subia mas de media vara en la parta mas alta.' Alegre, Hist. Comp. Jesus, ii. 180; Panes, Vireyes, MS., 96-7. Vetancurt writes that the main square with cathedral, palace, and plazuela de Volador, and all Santiago remained above water, Chron., 121; but this must be a mistake, for the square lay less than two varas above the surface of the lake.
