eved to have placed his stolen wealth, under guard of his most
trusted followers, which was afterward transported to Spain. One
immemorial cypress was pointed out to us in the grove of Chapultepec,
said to have been a favorite resort of Montezuma I., who often enjoyed
its cooling shade. This tree measures about fifty feet in circumference.
We were assured, by good local authority, that some of these trees date
back to more than twice ten hundred years. If there is any truth in the
concentric ring theory, this is easily proved. The best-informed persons
upon this subject have little doubt that these trees are the remains of
a primeval forest which surrounded the burial-place of the Incas. There
is plenty of evidence to show that when Cortez first penetrated the
country and reached this high plain of Anahuac, it was covered with a
noble forest of oaks, cedars, cypresses, and other trees. To one who has
not seen the giant trees of Australia and the grand conifers of the
Yosemite Valley, these mammoths must be indeed a revelation,--trees that
may have been growing before the advent of Christ upon earth. Here and
there a few modern elms and pines have been planted in the Chapultepec
grove; and though they are of respectable or average size, they look
like pigmies beside these gigantic trees. During all the wars and
battles which have taken place around and above them, these grand old
monarchs have remained undisturbed, flourishing quietly amid the
fiercest strife of the elements and the bitter contentions of men.

According to Spanish history, here stood of old the palace of the Aztec
kings; and it seems to have ever been the favorite abiding place of the
Mexican rulers, from the time of Montezuma I. to President Diaz, being a
fortress, a palace, and a charming garden combined, overlooking the
grandest valley on the continent. On Sundays the _elite_ of the city
come here to enjoy the delightful drive, as well as the shady park which
leads to the summit of the hill, welcomed by the fragrance of flowers,
and charmed by the rippling of cooling fountains. At the base of the
elevation on which the castle stands, at its eastern foot, bursts forth
the abundant spring from which the city is in part supplied with water.
Here begins the San Cosme aqueduct, a huge, arched structure of heavy
masonry, which adds picturesqueness to the scenery. Maximilian, upon
taking up his abode here, caused a number of beautiful avenues to be
constructe