A TKIP TO MEXICO. 285 



Peru up the Andes, which is in some places five per cent. It is 

 very near the limit practicable for the passage of ordinary trains 

 by simple traction. And even for this, it is necessary to make 

 use of a specially constructed engine, known as the Fairleigh lo- 

 comotive. It is a long boiler, more than double the usual length, 

 with a smoke stack at each end, and the fire in the middle. 

 There are eight drive wheels, and the weight of the huge machine 

 is seventy tons. For such heavy rolling gear the track and the 

 bridges must necessarily be of the strongest and most substantial 

 kind. One is not surprised then to learn that this 250 miles of 

 railway cost over thirty million dollars, and that it paid the Eng- 

 lish stockholders no dividend whatever. This, with the millions 

 of dollars sunk in Mexican bonds and in silver mines, must make 

 some sorrowful pages in the ledgers of our thrifty cousins. 

 . But we must come back to our journey. At Boca del Monte, 

 and about half way over the whole distance, we suddenly emerge 

 from the mountains and come out on the great Mexican plateau, 

 about 9,000 feet above the sea. From this point down into the 

 valley of Mexico, which has an elevation of 7,500 feet, is a long 

 dusty and rather uninteresting ride. It is the dry season. There 

 have been no rains for four or five months ; and the whole coun- 

 try is parched and dried up. The climate of these uplands is 

 only divided by wet and dry portions of the year. The temper- 

 ature does not materially vary. Wherever there is water for 

 irrigation, fruits, vegetables and harvests can be had in any 

 season that may be desired. 



The last sixty miles of the road is through almost continuous 

 haciendas, or plantations, of maguey. This is the plant from 

 which the Mexicans obtain their intoxicating drink, called pulque. 

 The southern races of America, as well as of Europe, devote I 

 think half of their lands and labor to the production of what 

 they drink. The maguey is a species of aloes. The exotic cen- 

 tury-plant is very similar if not identical with it. But in its 

 native habitat, and in favorable locations, it has an enormous and 

 magnificent growth. It throws out its thick and spike tipped 

 leaves ten and twelve feet long. When allowed to do so, it 

 shoots up, after ten or fifteen years of growth, a straight central 



