430 Miscellaneous. 
Every one who has visited this country must agree with Humboldt, 
that the region comprising the tierra templada and the eastern slope 
of the mountains above, is ‘‘ one of the most beautiful and picturesque 
in the world.” No other part of the world, perhaps, can present 
scenery of such sublime and picturesque beauty. When travelling 
over the rough and barren hills, strewn with volcanic rocks, the 
scene is suddenly changed by coming upon the edge of a barranca 
or ravine, its bottom lands several hundred feet below you, highly 
cultivated in fields of sugar-cane, corn, &c., dotted with the straw- 
thatched cottages of the Indians, and presenting a most perfect 
panorama or picture of nature’s own painting, inclosed, as it were, 
ina frame of black and jagged rocks, which form its perpendicular 
sides, without a vestige of vegetation growing upon them. Far off 
below lies stretched out the tierra caliente, having the appearance 
of an immense park, bounded on the horizon by the Gulf; and yet, 
elevated as your position seems to be, on turning to look in the op- 
posite direction, Orizaba, with its silvery cap of eternal snow, and 
the base and rocky peak of Perote, still stand above you eight or 
nine thousand feet. 
In addition to the animals on the tierra caliente, I noticed the 
raccoon, the opossum, the Bassaris astuta, or ring-tailed weasel, as it 
is called by the Mexicans, and several species of deer. I noticed 
also a porcupine, which struck me as different from the common > 
species. The puma and jaguar are also met with in the mountains. 
The mammalia of this part of Mexico seem to be identical with, 
or nearly allied to, more northern species, while the birds for the 
greater part are found also much farther south. Lizards are less 
numerous, but snakes more so, than on the tierra caliente. The 
plants I should think more characteristic than either mammalia or 
birds, and present a rich field for investigation. 
* The two species of Jalapa-root are collected in small quantities, 
only on the sides of the mountains, by the Indians, the greater part 
exported being brought from the north and west of the city of 
Mexico. | 
In the neighbourhood of Jalapa, and on the road passing over the 
mountains, I noticed several beds and hills of sand, in some of which 
are deposits of the sulphate of lime, finely crystallized in the form 
of sand. I was told by the Mexicans that they had dug up here 
young clams, perhaps Cyclas. I mention this fact in confirmation of 
my opinion, that the plains of Anahuac above, or of Perote and Puebla, 
as they may be called, have been drained by one of the many revo- 
lutions (geological, not political) which this country has passed 
through. 
The eastern part of the plains above, for the distance of twelve or 
fifteen miles, is sandy; beyond are salt-beds and soda. In many 
localities, at the depth of ten or twelve feet, I saw fossil freshwater 
shells of the genera Planorbis, Lymnea, Physa, and others, which it 
is reasonable to suppose once lived at the bottom of lakes which 
covered these plains, as well as that of the valley of Mexico. 
The volcanic mountains which form the boundaries to the plains 
