Note 242 — Chapter VIII

It is unnecessary to refer to the pages of modern travellers, who, however they may differ in taste, talent, or feeling, all concur in the impressions produced on them by the sight of this beautiful valley.{*}

{*} [Modern civilization has, according to Bandelier, made Mexico much more beautiful than it was in the days of Montezuma. He says, “The city of Mexico, with its domes and spires glistening in the noonday sun, is certainly a finer sight than was the old pueblo, resting on the dull waters of the lagune, like an adobe patch, surmounted by the clumsy mounds of worship.” He forgets, however, that the adobe was plastered over with gypsum, and that “the walls were so well whitened, polished, and shining that they appeared to the Spaniards when at a distance to have been silver.” Clavigero, Mexico, ii. p. 232.—M.]