GUERRERO, OAXACA. 137 



ing bay of SlgHantaneo, some 60 miles north-east of Zacatula. According to the 

 plans of Gorsuch and Jimenez, this shoukl form the Pacific terminus of the Mexcala 

 valley railway, a southern section of the interoceanic line, 450 to 500 miles long, 

 which it is proposed to construct from Tuxpan right across the republic, 



Chilpancingo, capital of the State of Guerrero, is a small place standing at an 

 altitude of 4,560 feet on the elevated parting-line between the Mexcala valley 

 and the Pacific Ocean. Acapulco, its admirable seaport on the Pacific, has but 

 little traffic. Sailing vessels have ceased to visit it, but it remains a regular port 

 of call for steamers. The harbour, which presents the form of a vast crater 

 breached towards the Pacific, is accessible to the largest vessels, which here find 

 complete shelter. But the fringe of palms and bananas does little to mitigate 

 the intense heat in this pent-up cirque, where the solar rays are reflected from 

 side to side of the surrounding granite cliffs. An opening has been made at 

 great expense through the west side, to give access to the cool sea breezes. 



Aiifcqiieru, an old Spanish foundation dating from the year 1522, has resumed 

 the name of the Zapotec fortress of Huaxiacac [Oaxaca), which lies three or four 

 miles farther west. This place, laid out with perfect regularity, is almost un- 

 rivalled in Mexico for the beauty of its gardens and the fertility of the surround- 

 ing plains. A river bearing the Aztec name of Atoyac, or "Punning Water," 

 traverses the district, where, at a mean elevation of about 5,000 feet, the plants 

 of both zones are intermingled in endless variety. One of the chief industiies of 

 Oaxaca is the spinning and weaving of the fibre extracted fi'om the species of 

 bromelwort known by the name of j^ita. The whole "valley" of Oaxaca, with a 

 present population of about 150,000 souls, was formerly the private domain of 

 Cortes, whence his title of "Marques delValle." 



A few remains of Zapotec structures are seen in the neighbourhood of Oaxaca, 

 especially towards the west, where the city of Huaxiacjc formerly stood on Mount 

 x4.1ban. The ruins of Mitla, the best preserved and according to some travellers 

 the finest in Mexico, lie some 30 miles to the east. Standing midway up the 

 slope of moderately elevated hills, which, like those of Greece, stand out sharply 

 against the horizon, the group of Mitla palaces, with the great pyramid whose 

 temple is now replaced by a Catholic shrine, presents somewhat the aspect of a 

 dilapidated Acropolis. These edifices may also be compared with the Hellenic 

 monuments of the better epoch in the beauty of their proportions and workman- 

 ship. The walls are disposed in great parallelograms arranged in long horizontal 

 bands, all embellished with regular designs, cross lines, lozenges, fretwork in 

 straight or inclined lines, but with scarcely any curves. 



The waters flowing from Oaxaca, Mitla, and the intervening hills all converge 

 six miles south-east of the capital near the village of Santa Maria del Tuie, or of 

 the " Reeds." Trees of colossal size are not rare in this region, and the houses 

 of the village are grouped round the largest of these giunts, which was formerly 

 regarded as sacred. It is a sabino, or "cypress" [taxodlum nincrojiatio»), which 

 is said to be the largest tree in the whole world ; at least it exceeds in thickness 

 all those of which measurements have been taken. The so-called " Hundred- 



