484 



MEXICO. 



boundary on the northeast and has a course 

 of more than 1,300 miles. The Eio de San- 

 tiago rises in the centre of the country, near 

 the capital, and makes its way through the 

 mountains to the Pacific Ocean. The other 

 rivers of importance are the Tula, Tampico, 

 and Tohasco, flowing into the Gulf of Mexico, 

 and the Balsas or Zacatula, and the Yopez, on 

 the western slope. The largest lake in the 

 country is the Chapala, in Jalisco, which cov- 

 ers an area of 1,300 square miles. The Pos- 

 cuara, Mextitlan, Cayman, and Parras, are 

 other considerable bodies of water. 



A peculiarity of the geological formation of 

 the mountains of Mexico is, that granite very 

 rarely comes to the surface, but is covered 

 over with porphyry, basalt, and other igneous 

 rocks. The central plateau is for the most 

 part a mass of porphyry containing large 

 deposits of gold and silver. Kich veins of 

 silver are also found in sienite and clay slate. 

 Quartz is rarely met with in the porphyritic 

 rocks, but hornblend is the predominating 

 element. 



In respect to climate, it is common to divide 

 the country horizontally, so to speak, into the 

 hot regions, tierras calientes ; temperate re- 

 gions, tierras templadas ; and cold regions, tier- 

 ras frias. The hot regions include the low- 

 lands of the coast wherever the surface is 

 lower than two thousand feet above the sea- 

 level. These, on the eastern coast, include the 

 greater part of the States of TamauMpas, Vera 

 Cruz, Tabasco, and Yucatan, and the northern 

 parts of Tehuantepec. On the western coast 

 the tierras calientes are confined to detached 

 localities and narrow strips of sea-coast. The 

 mean temperature in this region is about 77 

 Fahrenheit. On the eastern shore violent 

 storms prevail throughout the winter, and in 

 summer it is excessively unhealthy. The same 

 may be said of certain localities on the Pacific 

 shore. This is a great disadvantage to the 

 country in a commercial point of view, for 

 during the season when it is healthy on shore 

 it is exceedingly dangerous navigating the ad- 

 jacent seas ; and when the winds and waters 

 of the Gulf are favorable to ships and merchan- 

 dise, the foreigner is almost certain to be car- 

 ried away by the yellow fever if he steps on 

 shore. 



The temperate regions are for the most part 

 on the slopes of mountains between the lower 

 plains and the elevated table-lands. They have 

 a fine, healthy climate, and great beauty and 

 richness of vegetation, but are in general some- 

 what subject to fogs and mists. Within this 

 region are the cities of Jalapa, on the east, and 

 Chilpanzingo, on the Pacific slope. The mean 

 temperature of the year is about 68 Fahr. 



The cold regions include all the elevated ta- 

 ble-lands five thousand feet above the sea, 

 and upward. The mean temperature of the 

 great plateau is about 62, and it rarely rises 

 above 75 or sinks below 55. The mean tem- 

 perature of the city of Mexico is about the 



same as that of Kome. The climate of the 

 plateau is, on the whole, favorable to human 

 life. At a higher level than eight thousand 

 feet, the climate becomes rude and disagree- 

 able. The snow-line is reached at about fif- 

 teen thousand feet above the level of the sea. 



Below the 28th parallel of latitude there 

 are only two seasons in Mexico, the rainy sea- 

 son, from June or July to September or Octo- 

 ber, and the dry season, filling up the interval. 

 In the most northerly States an abundance of 

 snow falls in the months of January and Feb- 

 ruary. 



The vegetation of Mexico exhibits quite as 

 great a variety as its climate. "Indeed," says 

 Humboldt, " there is scarcely a plant in the 

 rest of the world which is not susceptible of 

 cultivation in one or other part of Mexico." 

 The soil has extraordinary fertility, and irriga- 

 tion is almost the only process required to 

 bring forth its latent wealth in a luxuriant ve- 

 getation. The plants especially adapted to the 

 hot regions are indigo, sugar, cotton, bananas, 

 cassava, maguey, etc. The farinaceous part of 

 cassava yields an excellent material for bread. 

 Maguey is a plant peculiar to Mexico, and very 

 highly prized by the people. It is a large, 

 fleshy plant, which sometimes attains a height 

 of twenty or thirty feet, and has leaves from 

 five to eight feet long. It does not flower of- 

 tener than once in about ten years, but when 

 the flowering period approaches it produces 

 an extraordinary amount of sap, which is se- 

 cured by cutting off the top of the plant, just 

 before the flowering stem shoots up, and mak- 

 ing a hollow cavity therein. From this six or 

 eight quarts of liquor may be drawn off daily 

 for four or five months. After a slight fermen- 

 tation this produces a drink somewhat resem- 

 bling cider, which is in common use as a bev- 

 erage among all classes of people. A sort of 

 brandy called pulque is obtained from this 

 by distillation. 



In the temperate regions, maize and Euro- 

 pean fruits and vegetables grow in abundance. 

 These are also common on the table-lands, es- 

 pecially the more hardy of the grains and fruits. 

 Among the productions of the country, not al- 

 ready mentioned, are tobacco, vanilla, yams, 

 coffee, olives, grapes, etc., which are not con- 

 fined to any particular locality, but thrive best 

 in the lower regions. There are some forests 

 among the mountains of Mexico, producing the 

 oak, pine, and other useful trees. 



Little is known of the animals which are 

 native here, but at present there are few fero- 

 cious wild beasts to be found. Buffaloes come, 

 from the plains of the Arkansas and Red Kiv- 

 ers in winter in quest of pasturage. The do- 

 mestic animals were introduced by the Span- 

 iards, and since that time have greatly multi- 

 plied and roam wild over the uninhabited dis- 

 tricts. The wool produced is of an inferior 

 quality. In the low country about the penin- 

 sula of Yucatan there is a great abundance of 

 bees, and mosquitoes and tormenting flies are 



