and feet in height,--the
fourth highest peak in Mexico,--is long in sight from the car windows,
first on one side of the route and then on the other, while we pass over
the twists and turns of the track to the music of rippling waters
escorting us to the plains below. Mountain climbers tell us that from
the apex of this now sleeping volcano the Pacific Ocean, one hundred and
sixty miles away, can be seen. It is also said that with a powerful
field-glass the Gulf of Mexico can be discerned from the same position,
at a much longer distance. Baron von Humboldt tells us that he ascended
this peak in September, 1803, and that the actual summit is scarcely ten
feet wide. It occupied this indefatigable scientist two days to make the
ascent from Toluca and return.

But let us tell the patient reader about Toluca itself. The streets are
spacious, well-paved, and cleanly. A tramway takes us from the depot
through the Calle de la Independencia, on which thoroughfare there is a
statue of Hidalgo, which by its awkward pose and twisted limbs suggests
the idea of a person under the influence of pulque. At the hotel Leon
d'Oro, an excellent and well-served dinner was enjoyed, and it is spoken
of here because such an experience is a _rara avis_ in the republic of
Mexico. Among the numberless churches, a curious one will long be
remembered, namely, the Santa Vera Cruz, the facade of which very much
resembles that of a dime museum, having a lot of grotesquely-colored
figures of saints standing guard.

Toluca, notwithstanding its appearance of newness, is really one of the
oldest settlements in the country, dating from the year 1533. Activity
and growth are manifest on all sides. There is a spacious alameda in the
environs, but it is not kept in very good condition. The town has two
capacious theatres, and a large bull-ring, which is infamously noted for
its many fatal encounters. The bull-ring and the cockpit are two special
blots upon this otherwise attractive place,--attractive, we mean, as
compared with most Mexican towns. Cock-fighting is the favorite resort
of the amusement seekers, and in its way is made extremely cruel. One of
the two birds pitted against each other must die in the ring. This and
the hateful bull-fight were introduced by the Spanish invaders of Mexico
centuries ago, and are still only too popular all over the land. In the
cities one frequently meets a native with a game-cock under each arm,
and at some of the inla