2 PROCEEDINGS OF THE NATIONAL MUSEUM vol.74 



LOCATION 



The city of Durango, capital of the State of Durango, is in the 

 southern part of the State. Four railroad lines enter the city; one 

 from the east joining the main line of the Mexican Central Railroad 

 at Torreon; one in the west from Salta, a lumbering station in the 

 Sierra Madre Mountains; another in the north from a mining dis- 

 trict in the Sierras, Tepehuanes; and the last one in the southeast 

 again connecting with the Mexican Central line at Canitas. The 

 Salta line is planned to eventually extend to Mazatlan, a seaport 

 on the Pacific coast; while the Tepehuanes branch will be advanced 

 through the rich mining district of northern Durango and southern 

 Chihuahua to Parral. 



The city of Durango is located at the western edge of the valley of 

 Guadiana, through which, about 8 kilometers from the city, flows the 

 Rio Tunal. To the east and south lie rich meadows and ranches, 

 while to the north and west the mountains rise step on step to the 

 crest of the Sierra Madre Range. Looking from the town the two 

 most important eminences are Cerro de los Remedios to the west and 

 Cerro de Mercado to the north. One can also see, away to the south, 

 the tilted pine-clad slope of Sierra Colorado. From the summit of 

 Cerro de los Remedios the surrounding country can be scanned in all 

 directions. To the east lie the city and the valley of Guadiana, to 

 the west a series of smooth sloping benches — faulted volcanic flows 

 rising step upon step. To the north are the farms of the valley, the 

 low-lying lava flows of Cerro Sanctuario, and the abrupt slopes and 

 ore cliffs of Cerro Mercado. 



Cerro Mercado from the south appears as a long ridge with a 

 steep and turreted mass of iron ore, Picacho de la Cruz at its eastern 

 end and a gentler peak, Picaclio Socavon 4, at its western end. 

 Between these are two gentle domes of iron ore, Cordon Rangel to 

 the west and Picacho Sur to the east. (PI. 1.) The western slope 

 is also steep, with Picacho Socavon 4 at the southern end and Picacho 

 Socavon 2 at the northern end. The northern slopes are gentler and 

 more irregular and melt away to the northward into a long ridge 

 called El Pedrigoso. Cerro Mercado has a length of 1,500 meters 

 and rises 175 meters above the valley floor. 



At the time of the writer's visit (September) the hill was clothed 

 in vegetation. On the southern slope, especially near the summit^ 

 grows an open grove of nopales (Opuntia), at that time in abundant 

 fruit. These fruits, tunas^ form an important article of food for 

 many of the native inhabitants. At the base of the hill are a few 

 scattered mesquite trees. The northern slope is bare of larger plant 

 forms, although it is covered with small shrubs and especially with 

 a mat of long grass, so thick as to almost completely mask the rocks 



