VERA CEUZ. 129 



locomotive lias already descended to the temperate zone on this slope, reaching 

 Matamoros de Izncar through AtUxco, where is seen a cypress 74 feet in circum- 

 ference. Towards the south-east angle of the state another line runs from the 

 plateau down to Tchnacan, or TeotUmacan, " City of the Gods," whose sumptuous 

 temples were compared b}^ the Spaniards to the palaces of Grenada. 



Yera Cruz. 



This state occupies all the hot zone skirting the Gulf of Mexico, besides a part 

 of the temperate lands, from the Rio Panuco to the Rio Tonala beyond Coatzacoalcos. 

 It thus extends north-west and south-east a total distance of about 410 miles. Despite 

 the marvellous fertility of its upland districts, which lie half-way up the slope, and 

 are well exposed to the fogs and rains of the Atlantic, Vera Cruz is not one of the 

 populous states of the confederacy ; within its limits are comprised some forest 

 lands, as well as sandy, desert, or marshy tracts. The capital has often been 

 displaced, and the city which gives its name to the state was itself for some years 

 the seat of the government. Orizaba also, for a time, held the same position, 

 which at present is enjoyed by Jalapa. This place stands on the slope of the 

 extinct Macuiltepec volcano, which is furrowed by deep gorges. Formerly it 

 occupied the rim of a plateau, also scored by eroded gullies. But according to 

 the local tradition, the inhabitants of this first Jalapa were so decimated by the 

 epidemic of lÔHT that they left the place in a body, and settled a little distance 

 off on a sunny slope on the opposite side of a neighbouring gorge. The new city, 

 with its regular streets winding amid the gardens, is one of the healthiest places 

 in Mexico. From its superb avenues is unfolded a magnificent prospect, embracing 

 on the one hand the forest-clad heights of the Cordillera from the Orizaba peak 

 to the Cofre de Perote, on the other stretching over the orchards and meadows of 

 the meandering Rio San Juan valley, and again in the far east to the strip of dunes 

 fringing the blue Atlantic waters. Although a small place, Jalapa is one of the 

 most important historic cities in Mexico. It occupies a station which is indispens- 

 able to all invading armies, to all travellers and traders journeying between the 

 coast and the plateau. Formerly, when the commercial monopoly belonged to 

 Cadiz, and when the trade with Europe was limited to a fleet forwarded every four 

 years, Jalapa was the great market-place for the distribution of the imports and 

 the purchase of Mexican produce ; hence its title of Jalapa de la Feria, or, as we 

 should say, " Market- Jalapa." It has now lost this commercial rôle, but it is still 

 a health resort, at once a hospital and a convalescent home for the people of the 

 lowlands. The yellow fever has never reached Jalapa, which as a sanatorium is 

 not only extremely salubrious, but also possesses in the neighbourhood numerous 

 efficacious mineral waters, hot and cold, saline and sulphurous. The numerous 

 products of the district surrounding Jalapa, Ciudadde las Flores, " City of Flowers," 

 fruits, cereals, and vegetables, serve mainly for the local consumption ; it exjDorts 

 little beyond its medicinal plants, especially the root of ipomea purga, which bears 

 the name of this place. The plant is collected by the Indians of the surrounding 

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