There was not much of interest along the railway line as the train rolled out of the capital. Our friends found themselves skirting Lake Tezcoco, and they had a near and farewell view of the famous church of Guadalupe; in order to avoid heavy grades, the railway takes a circuitous course, and is much longer than the wagon-road connecting the capital with Puebla. For many miles it is bordered on both sides by fields of maguey; Frank and Fred estimated that the acres of maguey plants they had seen since entering the country were sufficient to supply pulque enough for a population three times as large as that of the republic at the present time.
As they neared Apizaco they saw some changes in the general aspect of the country, but it was still the tierra fria, or cold region, in which they had been so long sojourning. At Apizaco they changed to another train, which took them over the branch line to Puebla, landing them at the station of that city at the hour of noon. They sought the Hotel Diligencias, and found it a comfortable establishment, from a Mexican point of view.
Puebla is a city of 70,000 inhabitants; it is old and wealthy, and its cathedral is one of the finest in Mexico—some do not hesitate to give it higher rank than the cathedral of the capital. Our friends went the usual round of sight-seeing in the city, and according to custom, one of the first things they saw was the cathedral.
"Stop a moment," said Frank, "the cathedral was not the first object to attract our attention. Our eyes had been fixed upon the great volcano, Popocatepetl and his white sister; they are in full view from the city and much nearer than at Mexico, so that they are far more impressive. Then, too, we had a view of the noble peak of Orizaba, of which we shall have more to say later on.
"Puebla has so many churches," continued Frank, "that you can't expect us to visit all of them. We went to the cathedral, which was consecrated in 1649, and therefore is a venerable building; additions have been made to it at various times since then, and within the last two or three years a handsome monument to Pope Pio Nono has been erected on the terrace on which the cathedral stands. The building has two fine towers; we climbed to the top of one of them, and had a fine view. Fred and I did the climbing, while the Doctor remained below.
"You can judge of the richness of the interior when I tell you that the high altar cost more than $110,000. There are eighteen bells in the tower, the largest of them weighing nine tons, and an inscription on the tower tells that this large bell cost $100,000. The chapels abound in sculpture and paintings, and if we should make a list of them, without any comment whatever, I'm afraid you would find it too long for patient perusal. The cathedral is 323 feet long by 100 wide, and occupies an imposing position which is well calculated to impress the beholder.
RUINS OF THE COVERED WAY TO THE INQUISITION.
"We visited two other churches, the San Francisco and La Compañia, and found them well worth the time we devoted to them, and a great deal more than we could spare. Our guide showed us the ruins of the covered way to the Inquisition; for Puebla, no less than the city of Mexico, had a branch of this institution of the Church. Puebla has always been noted as a religious city; it was founded as an antidote to heathen Cholula, which is only a few miles away, and its full name is Puebla de los Angeles—'Town of the Angels.' Before the Laws of the Reform went into force four-fifths of the valuation of real estate and other property in Puebla belonged to the Church, and one-fifth to private individuals.