AN A St 'ENT OF MT. E I Z. 1 R, L . 



53i 



up to the tree limit — between thirteen and fourteen thousand feet. 

 Spruce trees thrive best above the ten-thousand-foot line. There is very 

 little undergrowth and the country is park-like. The absence of animal 

 life is noticeable. Ants, flies, mosquitos, birds and mammals that are 

 so abundant in most parts of the Avorld are rare here. The only rep- 

 tiles that I saw were occasional salamanders. The slopes are easy and 

 regular, so that little energy is wasted by the necessity of descending 

 from heights once reached. 



During the day shifting clouds revealed one beauty after another 

 by blotting out one portion of the heavens or mountains and calling 

 attention to others. Occasionally the splendid summit of Orizaba would 

 appear, then the top of a neighboring mountain, as if nature were try- 



Fig. 3. Mount Orizaba from Elevation of about 8,500 ft., about 12 Miles away. 



ing the effect of drajDeries. Sometimes the clouds would envelop us 

 with their cold folds and shut out from view all but the nearest trees. 

 At four in the afternoon, though much too early according to my 

 judgment, we halted and prepared a camp under the shelter of a cliff, 

 whose base is hollowed out in the form of a shallow cave. It affords 

 poor protection. The rain coming from one direction is shut off, but 

 water drips from the rocks. Just after darkness had begun to settle down 

 we heard a far-away shout as if from some one in distress. We answered 

 and soon found that it was simply a shepherd calling his flock. It was 

 a cold night and sleeping out of doors at that altitude is not a luxury. 

 In the morning my rubber blanket was stiff with a sheet of ice. 



