TRANSACTIONS OF SECTION E. 807 
without traversing the high mountain ridges extending between that valley and 
the city, on a direct line. The whole region is mountainous, being an expansion 
of the parallel main ranges of the Western Sierra Madre continued through the 
States of Guerrero and Oaxaca as far south as the Isthmus of Tehuantepec. The 
ridges, though approximately parallel, are of somewhat irregular conformation. 
They rise generally to an altitude of between 8,000 and 9,000 feet, being inter- 
sected by valleys of generally greater breadth than the caiions of the same range 
further north; these valleys, however, descending to levels of from 3,000 to 4,000 
feet, and of course to still lower elevations as the ranges approach the Pacific 
Coast. The ranges are largely covered with varied foliage, and the prospect from 
any of the high ridges is of great magnificence. 
On leaving the city of Oaxaca in a westerly direction an open rolling country, 
partly bare of vegetation, is traversed for a distance of nine or ten miles to the 
foothills of the nearest range, crossing the river Atoyac close to the city. A pro- 
minent object in the centre of this tract is the white dome of the unfinished 
monastery of Cuilapa, a remarkable structure of high architectural interest raised 
by Cortez during his occupation of the country, and said to have also comprised a 
residence for the Princess Malintzi or Malinche. The evidence of this is, however, 
doubtful, and may possibly have been based on the existence in one of the tran- 
septs of a massive inscribed gravestone on which the name of Cortez appears. 
Entering the range by the winding caiion of Zavaleta a gradual ascent is made to 
a summit clothed with pine forests, where natural ice is prepared and stored on a 
singular native system. The trail issues above the little mountain village of San 
Pablo Cuatro Venados, or St. Paul of the Four Deer, one of the most remarkable 
sites of early settlement in Mexico, Following the ridge another descent com- 
mences through a heavily timbered caiion to the mining village of San Micuel 
Peras, some fifteen miles further. A mile beyond this is the meeting of two forks 
of the Rio Verde, and the usual uncertain nomenclature as to rivers and other 
local features is encountered. A second ascent to 9,000 feet has then to be accom- 
plished by exceedingly rough trails, succeeded by a descent into a valley of less 
depth, but falling gradually to the north and south of the point of crossing. On 
reascending from this, a summit is reached crowned by a native village known as 
Huitepec, occupied by a population of Indians whose language proved to be entirely 
distinct from any of the known dialects of the State, and apparently isolated. It 
possesses several peculiarities, and seems to be a solitary survival of one of the most 
ancient tongues of Central America. 
Immediately beyond this the geological formation changes suddenly, the next 
descent being entirely covered with vast irregular boulders of grey limestone, 
amongst which the threading of a trail with horses and pack-mules is a matter of 
extreme difficulty. Again a high ridge has to be traversed at an altitude equal to 
the previous ones, amongst alternations of pine and scrub-oak growth and open 
spaces of along fine grass, with a variety of flowering plants. At some six or 
seven miles beyond Huitepec the trail enters the head of an extremely steep cafion, 
the side of which it skirts with an available width of sometimes not more than a 
foot or eighteen inches, this track being known as the Infiernillo or‘ Little Infernal,’ 
a name which the traveller by it considers by no means inappropriate, especially 
in the season of rains, when the clayey surface becomes slippery with moisture. 
Finally, the trail leads out upon a fourth ridge, overlooking the attractive 
valley of Rio Minas, with its winding river, a last descent being now made to a 
level of 4,200 feet. The few inhabitants of this country, a delightful one both in 
climate and fertility, are of a simple and hospitable disposition, and engaged, so 
far as they follow any pursuit at all, entirely in agricultural occupations, though 
surrounded by rich mineral formations. The general absence of animal life is 
noticeable, though the valleys abound with butterflies and other insects. Poisonous 
insects of all kinds, and also snakes, appear to be very rare; in fact, almost 
unknown. 
The difficulty of access from the well-populated valley of Oaxaca has no doubt 
contributed to the isolation of a district so inviting. Further down the course of 
the Penoles river, where it issues westward, the valley divides to the north-west 
