198 DR. H. GADOW ON MEXICAN f 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 lidges 

 which are barren when of volcanic, wooded when of Palaeozoic 

 formation. 



San Dionisioand Tlacolula, 5160' ; Oaxaca, 5060'. The Paleeo- 

 zoic terrain stretches from Oaxaca westwards. There is the 

 forest-clad Oerro de San Felipe, 9000 feet high, Avitli semialpine 

 meadows on its slopes. 



From Cuernavaca south v/ards to the coast. 



Ouernavaca, 5000'. Fei-tile valleys of volcanic and limestone 

 terrain, with little streams. Shut off from the Valley of Mexico 

 by the high, volcanic, densely wooded Sierra de Ajusco, &c., 

 averaging 10,000 feet. 



Puente de Ixtla to Tetecala. Pleasant, fertile, varied open country; 

 limestone teri'ain, in which are the huge Oaves of Oacahuimilpa. 



Iguala, 2400', in a wide plain, svuTounded 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, inteivsected by very deep, 

 steep, and long gorges, and the river-beds are the only available 

 roads ; here and there these river-beds bi'oaden out into meadows. 



Mesquititlan, 2800'. Narrow, luxuriant gorges. 



Zumpango, 3400'. Open, sandy, meadows. 



Ohilpancingo, 4100'. In a windswept, shallow depression of 

 Cretaceous terrain, surrounded by spaisely wooded hills, and 

 meadows on the top of the ridge. 



To the west, in the mountains the hamlet of Omilteme, 7100', 

 luxurious foi'ests ; at fii-st oak, dwai-f palms and pines ; then 

 oak, pine, and arbutus ; then oak and pine ; and lastly pines vip to 

 the highest summits, forming dense high forests, with the 

 most luxurious underwood in the gorges, especially within the 

 cloudbelt. 



Mazatlnn, 4200'. Meadows and fields. 



