160 



The Isthmus of Tehuantepec. 



The beds of the rivers are rocky, and their currents swift. 



This central portion reminds a traveler of the lovely 

 lands of Maryland and Virginia. 



The air is dry and pure. The wind blows, all the time, 

 from the north to the south. 



Along the river banks there is an abundant supply of 

 timber — scrub oak, cotton wood, and saibo — while away 

 from the rivers the plains are covered with grass. 



There are no musketoes, fleas, nor spiders; but few 

 parrots, no monkeys, nor snakes. The air is exhilarating, 

 like a mountainous country. There is no miasma like that 

 of the Plains. There is fever and ague about the large 

 lagoons. The most common rock is slate. Quartz pebbles 

 are found in the brooks, showing that quartz is to be found 

 higher up the mountaius, among the older rocks. Small 

 and swift streams of pure water are plentiful. The people 

 of this district are employed as herdsmen. The country is 

 filled with cattle: they are fattened here, and driven to the 

 large cities to be slaughtered for their beef and hides. 



Generally, there are no roads, for the country is passable 

 anywhere, and there are no fences. Hundreds of tracks, 

 made by cattle from various ranchos to the water, cross and 

 recross continually. The only way to reach any destination 

 is to go ahead regardless of these trails, for they only con- 

 fuse the traveler. A road has been made by some Ame- 

 rican capitalists, nearer the summit, where the hills are 

 more precipitous. In the first days of the California fever, 

 this road was used to transport the emigrants. It is still 

 called the American road. When made it was wide 

 enough for stage coaches, and was used by them for a short 

 time; but it has been gradually overgrown, until the track 

 is barely wide enough for a single mule. 



In the range of Cordilleras, which traverse the whole of 

 Mexico, as a back bone, there are two points, both on the 

 isthmus of Tehuantepec, where they are depressed to a 



