::::::::»? TWO BIRD-LOVERS IN MEXICO B:-""- 



was to bear us to the town of Orizaba ; and as we 

 whirled along, we were " jnst one large eye." For the 

 first few miles, sand, sand everywhere, and as we 

 approached the edge of this coastal desert, the ravages 

 of the " norther " became plainly visible. Far to the 

 north of us, midwinter blizzards Avere raging ; snow^ 

 was drifting and filling every hollo^v. Here, although 

 nothing had fallen from the sky, a more deadly bliz- 

 zard had swept over the land. In some places the sand 

 seemed to have been lifted bodily in great masses by 

 the gale, and carried inland. Fenced-in gardens of 

 vegetables and flowers were a foot deep in level sand, 

 while the sombreroed Mexicans were Avorking frantic- 

 ally with fingers and baskets to remove the deadly 

 weight of stony grains. More than one thatched hut 

 was crushed in to wind^vard by the weight of drifted 

 sand, and many of the banana palms Avere buried 

 so deep that their loA\'-arcliing leaves were all held 

 fast. We saAv where the natives had erected a stout 

 barrier to protect a little cultivated patch, but this 

 proved merely a challenge which the north Avind ac- 

 cepted Avith fierce joy. It was short work to fill in 

 the AvindAvard side Avith the shifting dust, and then 

 each blast sent a cloud, swirling up the slope to fall 

 over the top like a Avaterfall — a merciless stream of 

 blighting sand. 



The train soon left behind this unpleasant zone of 

 Nature's Avarfare, and Ave passed into dense jungles as 



«4 20 ^ 



