Old and New
California, Colima, New Mexico, and Tlascala, though forming members
of the federation, declined having state governments, on account of
the expense, and are designated territories. The whole republic,
according to Humboldt, occupies a space of 75,830 square leagues, of
twenty to an equinoxial degree; on which there are to be found every
inequality of surface, and every variety of soil and climate, the two
last of which are dependent in most cases on the former.
The republic of Mexico, taken on the grand scale, may be considered as
a succession of small mountain-plains at different heights, separated
by mountains, and increasing in magnitude as the coast recedes on both
the eastern and western sides, until the great centre plain be
reached, which, though much broken by mountain ridges, tends to the
north, maintaining nearly an equal elevation. The snow-capped
mountains of Orizava, and the volcanos of Puebla and Toluca, are among
the most splendid objects in the world. The Mexicans divide the
regions of their country into _Tierras calientes, Tierras templadas_,
and _Tierras frias_, according to the climate. Throughout the whole
country there is a lamentable want of water, and of navigable rivers.
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