"The church is well worth seeing, and according to the historians it was founded in 1529, along with a convent of the order of San Francisco. There is another church, which was built by a Frenchman who came to Mexico a poor boy and was so successful in mining enterprises that he accumulated a fortune of $40,000,000. He spent a million dollars in building the church, and another million in making a garden which is one of the finest in Mexico, though it is far from being what it was in its best days. We went through it and were fairly enraptured with what it contains. The whole flora of the tropics seem to have been gathered in this garden, and not only that of the tropics, but also of a large part of the temperate zone.
"This fortunate Frenchman was named Joseph de la Borde, which is changed in Spanish into José de la Borda. Lest you might think of coming here to make his acquaintance, I will add that he was born in the year 1700, and therefore isn't around very much just now.
"Cuernavaca means 'cow's horn,' but we looked in vain for something to remind us of the weapon of the favorite animal of the farm-yard. It was explained to us that the word is a corruption of Quauhnahuac, which means 'where the eagle stops.' This was a better definition, as the site of Cuernavaca is one which an intelligent eagle might select for building his nest, provided there were no human beings around to molest him. The ill-fated Maximilian followed the supposed example of the eagle, as he was fond of coming here; it was his favorite dwelling-place whenever he could snatch a few days from the cares of state. Most of the houses are roofed with red tiles, which make a fine contrast with the foliage of the tropical and semi-tropical trees.
"We visited the springs of Guadalupe which supply the town with water, and found some charming scenery among the neighboring hills. Cuernavaca lies between two barrancas, with very steep sides, and thereby, or therein, hangs a bit of history. The barrancas offer an excellent protection against assault, and when the army of Cortez came here there seemed to be no point of access. You must remember that Cortez had no Krupp or Armstrong cannon with which he could lie off at his ease to batter the town to pieces and care nothing for the intervening chasms.
"The Spaniards were at bay for some time, till at last some of the soldiers found a place where two trees had fallen across the barranca, and made a perilous but possible bridge. Over this passage-way they crept, one by one, some of them growing dizzy and falling off, to be dashed to death on the rocks below. Silently they effected the transit, formed their ranks on the other side, and then, with the blare of trumpets and the fire of musketry, they dashed forward and captured the town. How it must have astonished the people when the position they had considered impregnable was thus captured by the white men from beyond the sea!"
CLIMBING THE HEIGHTS.