ADVENTURING DOWN THE WEST COAST OF MEXICO 



48: 



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THE BEAUTIFUL PANORAMA OE MAZATLAN 



This view, taken from a hill at the western end of the city of Mazatlan, gives a very good 

 idea of the beauties of its harbor and of the protection which light-draft vessels may find there 

 from any wind. Port improvements which will make this one of the fine harbors of the west 

 coast are now contemplated (see page 496). 



of the buzzard. Not. only will he eat 

 everything that the zopilotes will, and 

 these indecent birds are official scavengers 

 everywhere, but he usually beats the zo- 

 pilotes to whatever there may be in the 

 village. 



The absolute chumminess of the Mex- 

 ican pig, dog, and buzzard is dismaying. 

 I do not wish even to argue the matter 

 of pork. 



WANTED A KIPEING EOR MEXICO 



Americans do not keep happy on beans 

 and tortillas, and so the ranch manage- 

 ment instituted the club. The married 

 Americans live in rose-covered paradises 

 at the farther end of vistas of palms. In 

 this country flowers seem to grow all the 

 year around. 



The Americans dress for dinner, and 

 meet twice a week for dancing and 

 bridge, now and then spending a week- 

 end on a house-boat. 



Add the swarming natives in their thin 



cotton, paddling about barefooted, and 

 ox-carts, donkeys, fine horses, and — if 

 one is interested — alligators in the la- 

 goons, bears in the mountains, and a bad 

 cat the natives call a tiger. All the coun- 

 try needs is a Kipling. 



All along the coast we had heard of the 

 ranches at Los Mochis. There are rice 

 ranches at Cajeme, in the edge of the 

 Yaqui country, and banana ranches at 

 San Bias, Nayarit, three hundred miles 

 below, where Cortez once built ships with 

 which to cruise the Pacific, and other 

 ranches at every step between. But those 

 at Los Mochis are the show-places. 

 There are thousands of acres of sugar- 

 cane and tomatoes and beans and alfalfa. 



The fences hereabouts are often made 

 of the organ cactus. Riders through the 

 bush use saddles made with a sort of 

 bifurcated apron, which they throw over 

 their knees for protection from the 

 thorns and open out for coolness where 

 no thorns are (see illustration, page 458). 



