JALISCO. Ill 



and ricli in silver-raiues and thermal springs ; Ivapuato ; Salamanca with its cotton 

 mills; Celaya, a watering-place and a manufacturing centre, producing cloth, 

 carpets, soaps and leather. San Miguel Allende, or simply All'mb^, another indus- 

 trial town, dating from the first years of the conquest, lies on a plain to the 

 east of Guanajuato, while Salcatierra and Valle Santiago occupy depressions 

 in the lake-studded plateau which stretches southwards in the direction of 

 Michoacan. 



The Rio Lerma, which at Salamanca enters the formerly lacustrine basin of the 

 Bajio, sweeps southwards round the San Gregorio heights, and then traverses a 

 second very broad valley before losing itself in Lake Chapala. La Pieclad and 

 La Barca, both surrounded by numerous hamlets, have sprung up on the banks of 

 the river, and in the interior towards the south stands the town of Ixtlan, with its 

 hundreds of mud volcanoes dotted over the plain. Westwards along the banks 

 of the great lake there are no large towns. Chapala itself, which lies on the 

 north side, is an obscure place, remote from all the highways of communication. 



East of this town is seen the island of Mrxcal, which is identified with the 

 mythical Aztlan, whence the Nahuas trace their origin. In 1812 the Indians 

 of the surrounding shores took refuge in this island under one of their priests, 

 and here defended themselves for five years against all the attacks of the 

 Spaniards. 



Guadalajara, capital of Jalisco, lies some twelve miles from the left bonk of 

 the Lerma, at an altitude of 5,120 feet, on a plateau watered only by a few inlets. 

 Founded in 1542, it has always been one of the chief cities of Mexico, thanks to 

 its geographical position at the converging-point of the highways ascending from 

 the Pacific seaports towards the plateau. Its population has increased from 20,000 

 at the beginning of the century to over 100,000 ; it has thus greatly outstripped 

 the Spanish city from which it has been named. As a mining centre Guadalajara 

 cannot be compared with Zacatecas or Guanajuato ; nevertheless its mineral wealth 

 is considerable, for the local mint annually coins silver pit ces to the value of from 

 £240,000 to £280,000. But Guadalajara takes the second place amongst Mexican 

 cities as an agricultural and manufacturing centre, being noted especially for its 

 rebozos and other textiles, its paper, starch, cigars, metal and glass wares, and 

 sweetmeats of all sorts. The springs which supplied the city having proved 

 insufficient for the rapidly increasing population, it has been proposed to supply 

 it with water by a canal derived from the Rio Lerma above the Juanacatlan Falls ; 

 this aqueduct might also be so constructed as to furnish motive power for the 

 workshops of the city. 



The pleasure resorts of the wealthy classes of Guadalajara are for the most 

 part scattered over the San Pedro hills, some miles from the city. Towards the 

 east the Rio Lerma, here 540 feet wide, is crossed by the bridge of Totolotlan, a 

 work dating from the Spanish period. Farther on the route is carried over a 

 northern affluent of the Lerma by the famous bridge of Calderon, where the insur- 

 gents met their first reverse in a battle which was long supposed to be decisive. In 

 the neighbourhood, between the towns of Zipotlanejo and Tejxifitlan, is still seen the 



