MEXICAN CLIMATES. 65 



and west coasts as well as in Yucatan and elsewhere. 

 It extends to 3000 feet above sea-level, and almost 

 all the choicest treasures of tropical vegetation flourish 

 there in the greatest luxuriance. 



"Of 114 species of trees and cabinet woods, 17 oil-bearing 

 plants, and over 60 medicinal plants and dyewoods, indige- 

 nous to Mexico, and often differing specifically from kindred 

 varieties in Central and South America, by far the greater 

 part are represented in the 'Tierra Caliente'." * 



The wonderful beauty and luxuriance of some of 

 the Mexican forest scenes can hardly fail to strike 

 even the most superficial observer ; and in the " Campo " 

 or more open country, it is quite common to find small 

 farmers raising on their own ground, and in the imme- 

 diate vicinity of their houses, almost everything a man 

 can want for food or raiment: sugar, coffee, cotton, 

 bamboos, etc., etc. 



"The mean annual temperature is from 77 to 82 Fahr., 

 the extremes ranging from 59 to 104 F. The dry season 

 (Estacion Seca) usually lasts from October till the middle of 

 May; and the rainy season (Estacion de las aguas) from the 

 middle of May till the end of September; but the greater 

 or less regularity of the rainy season depends exclusively on 

 the position and mean elevation of each locality. The showers 

 generally last till midnight, leaving the early morning clear 

 and bright. Besides the constant summer rainfall, there are 

 also occasional storms and showers from December to February, 

 called the 'Aguas Nieves' (snow rains). The rains as a 

 rule begin first on the Atlantic seaboard, gradually spread- 

 ing westward in the time of the trade winds." f 



Unfortunately this region is unhealthy to Europeans, 



* Encyclop. Brit., gth Edit., Vol. xvi. p. 217 (Article "Mexico"). 

 f Stanford's Compendium of Geography and Travel for Central 

 and South America. Edited by H. W. Bates, 1878, pp. 73 to 78. 



VOL. I. 5 



