e excise which Government derives from the sale of this liquor,
which, in taste, resembles sour butter-milk, amounted to $817,739 in
the year 1793.

PEROTE.

The traveler from the coast always arrives at Perote at a late hour;
and as he leaves it again at an early hour next morning, he recollects
nothing of it but its chilly night air, and the good supper which he
was too cold to enjoy. But on his return from Mexico, he usually has an
hour of daylight, which he can improve in a survey of this small and
cleanly town. Here the freight-wagons, with their twenty horses apiece,
stop to recruit; and the cargo-mules, that take this route, are
gathered in the immense stable-yards, which give to the place the
appearance of a collection of caravansaries. The whitewash-brush has
been industriously applied to the outside of the houses; and though
they are chiefly built of that frail material, dried mud, they present
a very neat and tidy appearance, giving one a very correct idea of what
may have been the appearance of one of the first class of Indian towns
in the times of Cortez.

A few rods to the north of the town stands the castle of San Carlos--a
square fort, with a moat and glacis. It is built in the best style of
fortifications of the last century, having been designed as a
depository for silver, when, in consequence of the wars of Spain with
maritime nations, it was not deemed prudent to send it forward to the
coast: it was much used for this purpose when the road below was
blocked up, in the times of the insurrection, that began in the year
1810. At one time the accumulation here was so great that it is said
to have amounted to 40,000,000 of silver dollars; weighing about 1300
tons, or a little short of the whole silver export of two years. This
castle is now in a fine state of repair. It has a large garrison of
lancers, and at the time of my visit was daily in expectation of the
arrival of Santa Anna. From this castle Santa Anna, in 1828, issued his
_pronunciamiento_ against Pedraza. In this castle he was imprisoned by
Rincon, in 1845, after his capture at Xico. From this castle he was
banished by decree of the Mexican Congress; and to it he was now
returning to hold the supreme power in the State.

At two o'clock in the morning we were aroused from our comfortable beds
to take our places in the stage; and soon we were again upon the road.
There is something exceedingly attractive in the appearance of the
skies upon