. Historic buildings of America as seen and described by famous writers; . s of enormousCyprus trees {Cupressus disticd) beneath whose shades werethe gardens where he loved to wander, even after his be-loved capital had fallen into the rude hands of the invadingSpaniards. I measured the girth of several of these trees, and foundthree or four of the largest to vary from thirty-five to fortyfeet above the ground. Their height was proportionatelygrand, lOO to 120 feet and the trees are well shaped. Longfestoons of a greyish Spanish moss hang from their branches; ^ Humboldt says that the hill of C
. Historic buildings of America as seen and described by famous writers; . s of enormousCyprus trees {Cupressus disticd) beneath whose shades werethe gardens where he loved to wander, even after his be-loved capital had fallen into the rude hands of the invadingSpaniards. I measured the girth of several of these trees, and foundthree or four of the largest to vary from thirty-five to fortyfeet above the ground. Their height was proportionatelygrand, lOO to 120 feet and the trees are well shaped. Longfestoons of a greyish Spanish moss hang from their branches; ^ Humboldt says that the hill of Chapultepec was chosen by the youngViceroy Galvez as the site of a villa (Chateau de Plaisance) for himselfand his successors. The castle-has been finished externally, but the apart-ments are not yet furnished. The building cost the king ;[^62,ooo. TheCourt of Madrid disapproved of the expense, but, as usual, after it waslaid out. The plan of this edifice is very singular. The common opinionat Mexico is that the house of the viceroy at Chapultepec is a THE CASTLE OF CHAPULTEPEC IO7 this moss is supposed to add to the beauty of the groves, butit gives me an idea of decay. In Prescotts fourth book there is a graphic account ofMontezumas town and country palaces of barbaric splen-dour ; his armouries, his granaries, his strange collection ofhuman monsters and dwarfs, his menageries and the aviary,which alone required three hundred attendants; the royalhousehold is described, and in proof of the luxury of theroyal table, it is mentioned that there were runners stationedevery twenty miles the whole distance from Vera Cruz toMexico, that the red mullets might be placed fresh andsweet upon his table; it is said that the runners brought upthese delicacies from the coast in quicker time than thepresent railway can accomplish. No one can doubt thetruth of the description of his magnificence who has beheldthe trees that are still standing along the avenues of whatwas on
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Keywords: ., bookcentury1900, bookdecade1900, booksubjecthistori, bookyear1906
