CHAPTER in 



SITUATION 



MEXICO, though placed within the tropical 

 zone, possesses by strange freaks of Nature 

 nearly every variety of climate found between 

 the Equator and the North Pole. It is this which 

 our predecessors did not understand when they 

 struggled with the precious seeds sent to them 

 from that far-off land. It was this subject on 

 which their friends out there did not trouble to 

 enlighten them. 



The eastern part of Mexico, bordering the 

 entire Atlantic coast and reaching fifty or sixty 

 miles inland, is called the "Tierra Caliente" or 

 hot region. There are found vast stretches of 

 sandy plain, parched with the blistering sun, 

 alternating with almost impenetrable forests. 

 The air is heavy with the odour of exotic 

 flowering shrubs and vines, of dank earth 

 and rotting vegetation. Vicious biting insects 

 are waiting for their prey. The heat is unbear- 

 able. 



Suffocating, and dreading the malaria and 



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