[CHAPTER XV.]
THE PASEO DE LA REFORMA.—BRIGANDAGE NEAR THE CITY.—STATUE OF CHARLES IV. OF SPAIN.—STATUE OF COLUMBUS.—A RELIC OF MAXIMILIAN.—AQUEDUCTS FROM CHAPULTEPEC.—MONTEZUMA'S TREE.—CHAPULTEPEC; ITS HEIGHT AND EXTENT.—MONTEZUMA'S BATH.—THE PALACE.—"THE FEAST OF BELSHAZZAR."—NATIONAL MILITARY COLLEGE.—MOLINO DEL REY.—GENERAL SCOTT'S ADVANCE UPON MEXICO.—CAPTURE OF VERA CRUZ.—BATTLE OF CERRO GORDO.—ENTERING THE VALLEY.—CONTRERAS AND CHURUBUSCO.—FALL OF CHAPULTEPEC.—GENERAL SCOTT'S ENTRANCE INTO THE CITY.—TREATY OF PEACE.—GENERAL GRANT ON THE MEXICAN WAR.
A CORNER OF CHAPULTEPEC.
One of the most attractive drives in the neighborhood of Mexico is along the Paseo de la Reforma, the avenue leading to Chapultepec. In point of fact, it is generally the first drive taken by a visitor, and he is pretty certain to be favorably impressed with it. Chapultepec was a royal residence before the Conquest; during the Spanish rule it was the home of the viceroys, and since that time the President of the republic has generally lived there when he could live at all in the city or its vicinity. Maximilian selected it for the location of the Imperial Palace, and enlarged the then existing buildings; the avenue leading to it owes its origin to his ambition, and is a monument of his taste for the beautiful.
MONTEZUMA'S TREE.
Whether the ride to Chapultepec is taken by the tram-way or in a carriage, the stranger will find it full of interest, and he would do well to try both means of making the visit. If he is an equestrian he will hire a saddle-horse, and make the excursion on horseback between seven and nine o'clock in the morning, when it is the fashion to appear thus on the Paseo. Doctor Bronson and his young friends followed the prevailing custom, and through the aid of the manager of the hotel were satisfactorily provided with steeds. But they were very modestly mounted in comparison with some of the Mexican equestrians, whose saddles and saddle-cloths were elaborately ornamented and said to have cost all the way from one to two thousand dollars each. Some of the horsemen were armed with sabres and revolvers—a souvenir of a custom which is no longer necessary, but was emphatically so not many years ago. The road to Chapultepec, and indeed the roads anywhere in the suburbs, were infested with brigands, who used to rise up from unexpected spots as though at the hand of a magician, and perform their work in a very expeditious manner.