* TOWN OF TEHUACAN. 131 



and freycinetta trees appeared, and the Spanish bayonet, 

 that plant with the terrible sharp-pointed leaves, was seen 

 in clusters here and there. A portion of the way we bor- 

 dered a deep and picturesque canon on the left, the track 

 here running close to the base of the mountain on that 

 side^ At 5:30 p. m. we entered Tehuacan. 



The town seemed to be about as large as that of 

 Orizaba. The buildings, however, were more tastefully 

 built, and had considerably more ornamentation. In the 

 center was the usual plaza. This was neat and trim, and 

 flowers were more numerous than in any previous town 

 visited. It was now tenanted principally by a flock of 

 grackles, who were making the air musical with their chat- 

 tering. The churches here were of a superior quality as 

 regarded architecture ; one, in particular, had a dome 

 built of tiles in the form of a mosaic. The bells v ere also 

 wonderfully sweet and silvery in tone, and it was a pleasure 

 to hear the chimes peal forth their notes on the still evening 

 air. Altogether, Tehuacan had an air of freshness about it 

 which was very pleasing. 



On the morning after our arrival we procured horses 

 and a mozo, and started to visit the onyx quarries, situated 

 near the village of San Antonio. My horse, unfortu- 

 nately, was not as good as my companions' v/ho soon dis- 

 tanced me, and I was compelled to visit the quarries 

 alone. The road was over an undulating country, sandy, 

 and in many places thickly covered with bushes, with here 

 and there a large tree. Cacti were everywhere abundant, 

 growing" in immense masses, having great woody stems as 

 thick as a man's body, and were quite a novel feature in 

 the landscape. Many of them were of the branched cande- 

 labrum form, and twenty to thirty feet in height. Other 

 kinds were also abundant, some of them growing very low 

 and shaped like a barrel. By the roadside several varie- 



