del Norte. It is about a mile in length, and not more than three streets in width. The houses are, generally, only one story high, and have flat roofs. There are, in Santa Fé, two churches, the magnificence of whose steeples forms an extraordinary contrast to the miserable appearance of the other buildings. On the north side of the town is a square, constructed for soldiers' houses, each flank of which contains from a hundred and twenty to a hundred and forty. The public square is in the centre of the town. On one side of it is the palace or government-house, with the quarters for the guards; and the other sides are occupied by the houses of the clergy, and public officers. Most of the houses have sheds before them, which occasion the streets to be very narrow. The number of inhabitants in Santa Fé, is supposed to be about four thousand five hundred.

On Mr. Pike and his men entering this town, the erowd assembled to view them was excessively great: and, indeed, their extremely miserable appearance seems to have excited much curiosity. This may easily be accounted for. After they had left the Arkansaw, they had been obliged to carry all their baggage on their backs; and, consequently, the useful were preferred to the ornamental articles. The ammunition, tools, leather-leggins, boots, and mockinsons, had been considered absolutely requisite. They had left behind their uniform, clothing; and, when they entered Santa Fé, Mr. Pike was dressed in a pair of blue trowsers, mockinsons, a blanket-coat, and a red cap. His men had leggins, cloths round their waists, and leather coats: there was not a hat among the whole party. This appearance was extremely mortifying to them all, especially as soldiers; and it made no very favourable impression on the people of Santa Fé. They were asked, by many of the common people, whether they had lived in houses, or in camps, like the Indians; or whether, in their country, the people wore hats.

They were conducted to the government-house, where they dismounted. On entering it they were conducted through various rooms, the floors of all which were covered with the skins of buffaloes, bears, or other ani mals. Here they underwent an examination, by the governor, respecting their objects and number. The conference terminated amicably; but the governor informed Mr. Pike that he must be conducted to Chihu ahua, a town in the province of New Biscay, and upwards of three hundred leagues distant.

Nineteenth Day's Instruction.

MEXICO OR NEW SPAIN..

THE Spanish possessions in North America, extend from the isthmus of Darien, along the coast of the Pacific Ocean, to the distance of more than two thousand two hundred miles. One half of them is situated under the burning sky of the tropics, and the other belongs to the temperate zone. Their whole interior forms an im mense plain, elevated from six to eight thousand feet above the level of the adjacent seas. The chain of

mountains which constitutes this vast plain, is a continuation of that which, under the name Andes, runs through South America. They are, in general, little interrupted by valleys, and, for the most part, their de clivity is very gentle. In consequence of this elevation, the Mexican provinces, situated under the torrid zone, enjoy a cold rather than a temperate climate. The interior provinces, in the temperate zone, have, like the rest of North America, a climate essentially different from that of the same parallels in the European continent. A remarkable inequality prevails between the

temperature of the different seasons: German winters succeed to Neapolitan and Sicilian summers.

This country suffers many inconveniences from a want of water, and particularly of navigable rivers. The Rio del Norte and the Rio Colorado are almost the only rivers of any importance. The lakes with which Mexico abounds, are merely the remains of immense basins of water, which appear to have formerly existed on the high and extensive plains of the Cordilleras. The largest of these, the Lake of Chapala, contains nearly one hundred and sixty square leagues, and is about twice as large as the lake of Constance.

A great portion of high land, in the interior of New Spain, is destitute of vegetation; and some of the loftiest summits are clad with perpetual snow. This country is not so much disturbed by earthquakes as several parts of South America; for, in the whole of New Spain there are only five volcanos; Orizaba, Popocatepetl, Tustla, Jorullo, and Colima.

The volcano of Jorullo, in the province of Valladolid, was formed during the night of the 29th of September, 1759. The great catastrophe, in which this mountain rose from the earth, and by which a considerable space of ground changed its appearance, is, perhaps, one of the most extraordinary physical revolutions in the history of the earth. Geology points out parts of the ocean, where, at recent periods, near the Azores, in the Egean Sea, and to the south of Iceland, small volcanic islands have arisen above the surface of the water; but it gives no example of the formation, amidst a thousand small burning cones, of a mountain of scoria, near seventeen hundred feet in height, above the adjoining plain. Till the middle of the year 1759, fields cultivated with sugar-canes and indigo occupied the extent of ground between the two brooks called Cultamba and San Pedro. In the month of June, a subterraneous noise was heard. Hollow sounds of most alarming description, were accompanied by frequent earthquakes, which succeeded one another for fifty or

sixty days, to the great consternation of the inhabitants. From the beginning of September every thing seemed to announce the complete re-establishment of tranquillity; when, in the night between the 28th and 29th, the subterraneous noises recommenced. The affrighted Indians fled to the mountains; and a tract of ground, from three to four square miles in extent, which goes by the name of Malpays, rose up in the shape of a bladder. The bounds of this convulsion are still distinguishable in the fractured strata. The Malpays, near its edges, is only about forty feet above the old level of the plain; but the convexity of the ground thus thrown up, increases progressively, towards the centre, to an elevation of more than five hundred and twenty feet.

The persons who witnessed this astonishing catastrophe, assert that flames were seen to issue forth, for an extent of more than half a square league; that fragments of burning rocks were thrown up to prodigious heights; and that, through a thick cloud of ashes, illumined by the volcanic fire, the softened surface of the earth was seen to swell up like an agitated sea. The rivers of Cultamba and San Pedro precipitated themselves into the burning chasms. The decomposition of the water contributed to invigorate the flames, which were distinguishable at a vast distance. Eruptions of mud, and other substances, indicated that subterraneous water had no small share in producing this extraordinary revolution. Thousands of small cones, from six to nine feet in height, called by the Indians "hornitos," or ovens, issued forth from the Malpays. Each small cone is a "fumorola," from which a thick vapour ascends; and in many of them a subterraneous noise is heard, which appears to announce the proximity of a fluid in ebullition. In the midst of the ovens six large masses, elevated from one thousand three hundred to one thousand six hundred and forty feet above the old level of the plains, sprung up from a chasm. The most elevated of these is the great volcano of Jorullo. It is continually burning, and has thrown up an immense

M

quantity of scorified and basaltic lavas, containing fragments of primitive rocks. These great eruptions of the central volcano continued till the month of February, 1760. In the following year they became gradually less frequent. The Indians, frightened at the horrible noises of the new volcano, had abandoned all the villages, within seven or eight leagues of it. They, however, gradually became accustomed to them, and returned to their cottages. So violent were the eruptions of this mountain, that the roofs of houses in Que retaro, though at a distance of more than forty-eight leagues, in a straight line from the scene of explosion, were sometimes covered with ashes.

The Mexican population consists of seven races, 1. Individuals born in Europe; 2. Creoles, or Whites of European extraction, born in America; 3. Mesto zos, or descendants of whites and Indians; 4. Mulattos, descendants of whites and negroes; 5. Zambos, de scendants of negroes and Indians; 6. Indians, or the copper-coloured indigenous race; and, 7. African ne

The number of Indians, including those only who have no mixture of European or African blood, are more than two millions and a half in number; and these appear to constitute about two-fifths of the whole population of Mexico. They bear a general resem blance to the Indians of Canada, Florida, Peru, and Brazil: they have a similar swarthy and copper-coloured skin, smooth hair, little beard, squat body, long eyes, with the corners directed upward towards the temples, prominent cheek bones, and, thick lips. There is a great diversity in their language, but they appear to have been all descendants from the same original stock.

It is probable that these Indians would live to a great age, did they not often injure their constitution by drunkenness. Their intoxicating liquors are rum, 3 fermentation of maize, and the root of the jatropha; and especially a wine which is made from the juice