28 A GUIDE TO MEXICO. 



hilltops. The great Cathedral, covering an entire block, and with sculptured front, 

 faces the Plaza : other churches, of all denominations, are here ; and the theatre, 

 bull-ring, and alameda furnish recreation and enjoyment. A fine hotel, the San 

 Estevan, is in charge of Americans. The city government is in honest and friendly 

 hands, and every thing promises well for the opening of Saltillo as an attractive 

 resort, either for summer or winter. 



Below Saltillo is La Eiicaiitada, the Enchanted Valley ; and seven miles out is 

 Buena Vista, near which place Gen. Taylor defeated Santa Anna. The country 

 beyond has no cities of any size, except Venado, a small manufacturing place, and 

 consists of vast plains bounded by mountains, the road running through haciendas 

 of immense extent, with an infrequent village, and halting-places where meals 

 are served to the travellers by the diligence. * 



SAN LUIS POTOSI, 



a city isolate in the great plains, soon to be connected by rail with the United 

 States and with the gulf-port of Tampico, contains many fine public buildings, 

 notable being the Palace of Justice and Governor's Palace, the Cathedral, churches 

 of el Caimen, San Augustine, San Francisco, and la Merced, colleges of advanced 

 grades, the usual plazas, and narrow, picturesque streets, with hotels as yet only 

 in the Mexican style. 



Southward, in the track of the railroad, lie vast haciendas, such as Jaral, which 

 once controlled 20,000 peons, and whose owner furnished a full regiment of cavalry 

 to aid the royalists against the Mexican insurgents. 



Dolores Hidalgo, a small place, is celebrated in Mexican revolutionary history ; 

 for here the patriot Hidalgo first sounded the watchword of liberty that eventually 

 spread over all Mexico. San Miguel is a larger city, with about 20,000 inhabitants, 

 with neat churches and fine squares; while curious Indian villages are scattered 

 all along the route. At Celaya, a city of about 30,000 inhabitants, the National 

 crosses the Central ; and the journey can be pursued either by way of Acambaro 

 and Toluca, 200 miles, or by the Mexican Central (Route I.), 180 miles, via Quere- 

 taro and Tula, to the city of Mexico. 



