he 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 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 Queretaro, 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. Mesti zos, or descendants of whites and Indians; 4. Mulattoes,
descendants of whites and negroes; 5. Zambos, descendants of negroes and
Indians; 6. Indians, or the copper-coloured indigenous race; and, 7.
African negroes.

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 resemblance 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