724 THE POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY. 



this capital and the other cities of the republic is found in the rate of 

 interior exchange," which at that time, according to the minister, 

 varied from ten per cent in the case of Chihuahua, distant a thousand 

 miles, to two and two and a half per cent for places like Toluca, not 

 farther removed than a hundred miles. Matters are, however, in a 

 much better state at present, and for reasons that will be mentioned 

 hereafter ; but the following item of Mexican news, telegraphed 

 from Saltillo (Northern Mexico), under date of February 15, 1885, 

 pretty clearly indicates the scope and desirability for future improve- 

 ment, and also the present limitation on the authority of the existing 

 national Government : " The commission of oflScers sent from Zaca- 

 tecas by the Government to treat for a surrender with the noted 

 bandit leader, Eraclie Bernal, has returned, having been unsuccessful 

 in its mission. The chief demanded the following conditions : Pardon 

 for himself and band, a bonus of thirty thousand dollars for himself, 

 to be allowed to retain an armed escort of twenty-five men, or to 

 be appointed to a position in the army commanding a district in 

 Sinaloa." 



How such a statement as the foregoing carries the reader back to 

 the days of the " Robbers of the Rhine," or the " free lances " of the 

 middle ages ! With a better government and increased railroad facili- 

 ties, the amount of travel in Mexico has of late years greatly increased. 

 Before the opening of the Mexican Central, in 1883, the majority of 

 travelers entered the country at the port of Vera Cruz, and journeyed 

 by railroad (opened in 1873) to the capital (two hundred and sixty- 

 three miles), and returned without stopping en route in either case ; or 

 else made excursions of no great distance from points on our southern 

 frontier into the northern tier of Mexican States — Sonora, Chihuahua, 

 Coahuila, and Tamaulipas — such journeys being usually made on 

 horseback, with preparations for camping out, and also for fighting if 

 it became necessary. Since the opening of the Mexican Central, how- 

 ever, this route offers the greatest facilities for those who desire to 

 reach the city of Mexico, the traveler jovirneying by a fast train, day 

 and night, the whole route (twelve hundred and twenty-five miles) 

 from El Paso, in the very best of Pullman cars, over a good road, 

 with every accommodation save that of food, which, in spite of 

 the efforts of the company, is and will continue to be bad, simply 

 because the country furnishes few resources — milk selling at some 

 points as high as twenty-five cents a quart and scarce at that, while 

 butter as a product of the country is almost unknown. But, enter 

 Mexico by whatever route, the ordinary traveler has little opportunity 

 to see anything of the country apart from the city of Mexico, save 

 what is afforded by the view from the car-windows, and yet it is from 

 just such experiences that most of the recent books and letters about 

 Mexico have been written. 



There is a wonderful depth of truth in a remark attributed to Era- 



