Our sister republic: a gala trip through tropical Mexico in 1869-70. Adventure and sight-seeing in the land of the Aztecs, with picturesque descriptions of the country and the people, and reminiscences of the empire and its downfall. By Col. Albert S. Evans ...

250 PRESIDENT JUAREZ AND MEXICO'S GUEST.
we had traveled from Guadalajara, for the more luxurious method of conveyance. We passed to the left of
Chapultepec and the Molino del Rey, and directly by
the famous tree under which Hernando Cortez found
shelter on the memorable Noche Triste, when his forces
cut their way by night through the hosts of the infuriated Aztecs,. piled up the dead to make a causeway
on which to escape across the shallow laguna, and at
last, sorely pressed, disheartened, and almost annihilated, escaped from the city. Then the glorious panorama of the great City of Mexico unrolled itself before us..
At the Garita de San Cosme, the stern, old champion
of Republicanism, the man of many adventures and
the most wonderful history and most varied fortunes,
the'man of the iron will and indomitable resolution
which. stand out on every feature, the man with the
charmed'life, who has escaped unscathed from more
plots, conspiracies, and accidents, than any other man
now living; the man who will live in history as one of the
wonders of our age, the man sent by Providence to repel
foreign invasion, crush and destroy the despotism of the
church, free the peon, establish schools, suppress insurrec.
tions, deal the last blow at imperialism in America, and
rule a turbulent nation with a rod- of iron, the Citizen President, Benito Juarez, stood waiting to receive the nation's
guest. He was dressed in plain black, and had not even
a liveried servant in attendance; his wife' and daughter
accompanied him. The brief, friendly -greeting over,
and the other members of our party having been introduced:by Seior Bossero,- the cavalcade resumed its way
and entered the Capital City of the Republic.
Driving past the old Alameda de Montezuma, where