lace, while above the low crown was displayed the blood-red cockade
adopted by loyally disposed Mexicans. His jacket was abundantly decorated
with gold embroidery, and garnished with the fur of the sea otter; his
breeches, of scarlet cloth, were open at the knee, where they were
terminated by green and yellow ties; the whole costume was profusely
laced with gold, and loaded with silver buttons. His legs, below the knee,
were protected by leather _botines_ or gamashes, fastened by silk ribands
of various colours, and finally losing themselves in a pair of
old-fashioned, high-quartered shoes. Spurs only were wanting to complete
the riding-dress, which was more remarkable for richness than good taste,
and evidently after the fashion of a previous century.

Casting a careless glance at the perilous path by which he had arrived,
the young man then fixed his gaze upon the magnificent panorama spread out
before him. In front were the blooming plains of Cholula, and beyond them
those of Puebla de los Angeles, with their corn and maize fields, and
agave plantations, divided by hedges and alleys of cactus, and dotted with
the cane-built and banana-shaded Indian hamlets. To the right, springing
out of the rugged porphyry ridge, the summits of which, alternately
wood-crowned and naked, were glowing in the afternoon sun, arose the snowy
head of the Itztaccihuatl, shedding such a flood of light and brilliancy
in its isolated magnificence, that the eye vainly strove to sustain the
glare. To the left towered the gigantic Popocatepetl, high above the
mountain world around, a misty crown of cloud clinging to its summit;
while farther to the south-east, shot up the star of Mexican mountains,
the Orizava, rising like some mighty phantom into the clear blue ether, of
which the quivering vibrations seemed to bring the enormous mountain each
moment nearer to the beholder. Finally, in rear of Don Manuel, the thickly
wooded Malinche, with its masses of forest trees and its stupendous
barrancas, frowned in dark and solemn shadow.

The extraordinary contrast of the most magnificent vegetation, then just
bursting out in all the green and blooming freshness of the season, with
the severe grandeur of the most sublime Alpine scenery, fettered the young
man for some moments in speechless admiration. He was roused from his
reverie by a slight rustling behind him, and turning his head quickly, he
gave a spring which, if less perilous than many of those