Six great highways centre in the capital, and leave it to traverse the principal districts of the confederacy.
1st. The road to Acapulco on the west coast, which passes out of the valley over its southern rim of mountains at the point known as the Cruz del Marquez, about 2,284 feet above the city of Mexico, or 9,784 above the level of the sea.
2d. The road to Toluca, by Tianguillo and Lerma.
3d. The road to Queretaro, Durango, &c. called El Camino de tierra adentro, which leads across the eminences at the north of the valley, by an elevation of about 100 feet only above the level of the lakes. This road is the highway for the internal trade of Mexico with the northern provinces.
4th. The road to Pachuca and Real del Monte in the mining district, across the Cerro Ventoso.
5th. The road to Puebla, across Bonaventura and the plains of Apam.
6th. The new road to Puebla and Vera Cruz, by Rio Frio and San Martin, across the northern shoulder of the volcano of Popocatepetl. It greatest elevation is at the barranca or ravine of Juanes, 10,486 feet above the level of the sea. Besides the two last mentioned roads there is a third, between the volcanoes of Popocatepetl and Iztaccihuatl, by Tlamanalco, Ameca, La Cumbre, and Cruz del Correo, passing out of the valley of Mexico into those of Cholula and Puebla.
Five lakes are embosomed in the valley in the immediate neighborhood of Mexico:—
1st. The lake of Zumpango, is the northernmost, and has an area of about 1 1 / 4 square leagues. A dam, called La Calzada de la Cruz del Rey , divides it into two basins, the westernmost of which is known as the