ztecs and the Tescucans were the chief races occupying the great
table-land of Anahuac, including, as we have seen, the famous Mexican
Valley. In the preceding chapter we have set forth some of the leading
points in the extinct civilization of those races, and also that of the
Mayas, who in several respects were perhaps superior to the Anahuac
kingdoms.

Several features of the early Mexican civilization will come before us
as we accompany the European conquerors, in their march over the
table-land. Meantime, we glance first at the geography of this
magnificent region, and secondly at the manners and institutions of the
people, their industrial arts, etc., and their terrible religion. The
last-mentioned topic has already been partly discussed in Chapter III.

The Tropic of Cancer passes through the middle of Mexico, and therefore
its southern half, which is the most important, is all under the burning
sun of the "torrid zone." This heat, however, is greatly modified by the
height of the surface above sea-level, since the country, taken as a
whole, is simply an extensive table-land. The height of the plain in the
two central states, Mexico and Puebla, is 8,000 feet, or about double
the average height of the highest summits in the British Isles. On the
west of the republic is a continuous chain of mountains, and on the east
of the table-land run a series of mountainous groups parallel to the
seacoast, with a summit in Vera Cruz of over 13,400 feet. To the south
of the capital an irregular range running east and west contains these
remarkable volcanoes--Colima, 14,400 feet; Jorulla, Popocatepetl,
17,800; Orizaba (extinct), 18,300, the highest summit in Mexico, and,
with the exception of some of the mountains of Alaska, in North America.
The great plateau-basin formed around the capital and its lakes is
completely enclosed by mountains.

This high table-land has its own climate as compared with the broad
tract lying along the Atlantic. Hence the latter is known as the hot
region (_caliente_), and the former the cold region (_fria_). Between
the two climates, as the traveler mounts from the sea-level to the great
plateau, is the temperate region (_templada_), an intermediate belt of
perpetual humidity, a welcome escape from the heat and deadly malaria of
the hot region with its "bilious fevers." Sometimes as he passes along
the bases of the volcanic mountains, casting his eye "down some steep
slope or almost unfathomable r