356 The National Geographic Magazine 



here during the Spanish occupation. 

 Although the majority of them are of 

 mixed blood, there are apparently many 

 full-blooded negroes. They speak only 

 Spanish and have crowded out the origi- 

 nal inhabitants. Most surprising of all, 

 they have retained to this day in many 

 of the villages the characteristic African 

 round hut, with conical thatched roof. 



From Acapulco we turned inland and 

 a week later were at Omilteme, on the 

 top of the high sierra which traverses 

 the interior of Guerrero parallel to the 

 coast. This is a limestone range with a 

 very rough, broken summit, where, be- 

 tween six and nine thousand feet above 

 sea-level, we found a magnificent oak 

 and pine forest. Fan palms were abun- 

 dant in the more open parts of the for- 

 est, while in the dark gulches, under the 

 shade of the giant trees, were beautiful 

 groups of tree ferns. Our stay here was 

 very productive, as we found many rare 

 birds which were lacking in our collec- 

 tion, in addition to several species pre- 

 viously unknown to ornithologists. 



Several days after leaving Omilteme 

 we reached a station on the railroad 

 leading to the City of Mexico and dis- 

 posed of our outfit. 



Before arriving at the City of Mexico 

 we passed through Cuernavaca, the cap- 

 ital of the State of Morelos. This is an 

 interesting old place, with remains of the 

 ancient Aztec occupation as well as of 

 the Spanish times. One of the survi- 

 vals among the Indians in this vicinity 

 is the curious urn-like type of corncrib 

 built with a projecting base and a chan- 

 neled groove or moat in the base, which 

 is filled with water to prevent ants and 

 other destructive insects from gaining 

 access to the corn. 



At Cuernevaca, in the Valley of Mex- 

 ico, and on the plains of Puebla we were 

 constantly in sight of the great snow- 

 crowned volcanoes which form the most 

 inspiring views in Mexico. A vivid 

 memory of these giant mountains lin- 

 gered with us long after the rainy season 

 arrived and caused us to return to the 

 United States. 







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Lizard Carved in Relief on Rock, Prehistoric, Cuernavaca 



