198 DR. H. GADOW ON MEXICAN [June 6, 
hills, deep gorges with sandy river-beds and patches of xerophile 
vegetation, especially cactus. 
San Bartolo, 2800'; San Carlos, 2460', in more open country. 
Totolapan, 2800’, in broad, sandy river-valley. Thence steep 
ascent on to the plateau, the edge of which is 5300’. Looking 
back, southwards, over the many ridges of mountains and hills, 
the Tierra Caliente appears to be densely covered with wood, 
while towards the north stretches the flat, almost treeless 
Southern Plateau, here and there with outcropping low ridges 
which are barren when of volcanic, wooded when of Paleozoic 
formation. ; 
San Dionisioand Tlacolula, 5160’; Oaxaca, 5060’. The Paleeo- 
zoic terrain stretches from Oaxaca westwards. There is the 
forest-clad Cerro de San Felipe, 9000 feet high, with semialpine 
meadows on its slopes. 
From Cuernavaca southwards to the coast. 
Cuernavaca, 5000’. Fertile valleys of voleanic and limestone 
terrain, with little streams. Shut off from the Valley of Mexico 
by the high, voleanic, densely wooded Sierra de Ajusco, &c., 
averaging 10,000 feet. 
Puente de Ixtla to Tetecala. Pleasant, fertile, varied open country; 
limestone terrain, in which are the huge Caves of Cacahuimilpa. 
Tguala, 2400’, in a wide plain, surrounded by limestone hills, 
with scanty vegetation. 
Rio Balsas Station, 1500’; in the valley of the Balsas or 
Mescala River. Very mountainous ; tropical vegetation. High 
and low forest, interspersed with much brushwood. The 
river, during the rainy season, brings down floods of yellow or 
brown water with rather little sand, but much comminuted 
vegetable matter. The bed is rocky, limestone, the banks 
mostly steep, but there are many sandy shelves above the high- 
water mark. Mescala, 1700’. 
The Balsas basin is bordered on the southern side by a long and 
high range of mountains, parallel with the Pacific coast, attaining 
heights of 10,000 feet, densely wooded, intersected by very deep, 
steep, and long gorges, and the river-beds are the only available 
roads; here and there these river-beds broaden out into meadows. 
Mesquititlan, 2800’. Narrow, luxuriant gorges. 
Zumpango, 3400’. Open, sandy, meadows. 
Chilpancingo, 4100’. In a windswept, shallow depression of 
Cretaceous terrain, surrounded by sparsely wooded hills, and 
meadows on the top of the ridge. 
To the west, in the mountains the hamlet of Omilteme, 7100’, 
luxurious forests; at first oak, dwarf palms and pines; then 
oak, pine, and arbutus; then oak and pine; and lastly pines up to 
the highest summits, forming dense high forests, with the 
most luxurious underwood in the gorges, especially within the 
cloudbelt. 
Mazatlan, 4200’. Meadows and fields. 
