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THE NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC MAGAZINE 



snow-crown of Orizaba gleaming bril- 

 liantly, serenely in the moonlight, we 

 were overpowered by an emotion which 

 for a moment left us speechless. 



The weather had cleared and in a man- 

 ner which made the experience the most 

 memorable one of our journey. The fol- 

 lowing morning was cloudless, and as a 

 reminder that we were in the Tierra Fria 

 the mercury stood at 31 ° and ice formed 

 in pools left by the rain. 



When contemplation of Orizaba per- 

 mitted we could now take some account 

 of our surroundings. The ridge between 

 the barrancas had narrowed again and on 

 each side we could hear the roar of the 

 over-filled streams tearing down their 

 rocky bottoms, 1,500 feet below us. 



BIRDS 01? THE NORTH 



Birds were common, easily observed, 

 and of absorbing interest. One may read 

 of the occurrence of such typically boreal 

 species as evening grosbeaks and cross- 

 bills in the latitude of Mexico City with- 

 out discounting the impression created by 

 actually seeing them there. Brown creep- 

 ers (Certhia), nuthatches (Sitta pygmcca 

 and S. carolinensis mexicana) , chicka- 

 dees (Penthcstes meridionalis) , water 

 ousels, juncos [ J unco phcconotus), sis- 

 kins, ravens, and hairy woodpeckers were 

 other birds of northern origin seen about 

 or near our camp, while robins, bluebirds, 

 and flickers served further to remind us 

 of higher latitudes. More strictly indig- 

 enous forms were olive, and red- faced 

 warblers and the large striped sparrows 

 (Plagiospiza) . 



At an altitude of 10,000 feet we passed 

 a group of buildings locally known as El 

 Jacal, the home of a patriarchal goatherd 

 whose family appeared to be almost as 

 numerous as his flocks. Here the traveler 

 from Coscomatepec to San Andres on the 

 table-land could lodge for the night. The 

 trip therefore may readily be made with- 

 out other equipment than one could carry 

 on his saddle, and I commend it to every 

 one who would leave the tourist trail and 

 come into closer contact with Mexico 

 than is possible near the line of a railway. 



At 11,500 feet the last spruces were 

 observed. At their "timber-line" they 



were still large, vigorous trees and there 

 was no apparent reason why they should 

 not have continued to appear for at least 

 another thousand feet ; but, if unseen, the 

 law that controls their distribution was 

 not the less potent. Shortly they were 

 followed by the long-leaved pine (Pinus 

 liophylla), and only the short-leaved pine 

 reached the upper limit of tree-growth. 



Camp was made at 12,600 feet, in an 

 ill-selected spot, where, after sunset, the 

 wind swept down off the great snow- 

 fields above us and we could actually see 

 the mercury in our thermometer fall. In 

 30 minutes it dropped 28 0 — from 48 0 to 

 20 0 — and at 6 o'clock the following morn- 

 ing it registered 12 0 . Lack of suitable 

 clothing, though we had prepared for 

 reasonably cold weather, and the sudden- 

 ness of the change gave us, in spite of a 

 camp-fire, a realizing sense of what it 

 means actually to suffer with cold. Six 

 hours later the sun temperature was 112 0 , 

 and, suffering now from the heat, we 

 endeavored to adjust ourselves to a varia- 

 tion of 100 degrees in six hours. 



MASTER 01? Till? MOUNTAIN 



Long before daylight, on this wakeful 

 night, we heard the tread of sandaled feet 

 and the sound of surprisingly cheerful, 

 laughing voices pass on the trail which 

 led up the mountain. Who these people 

 were and where they were going was later 

 explained to us by a visitor, who, armed 

 with an ancient rifle, politely introduced 

 himself as "el dueno de la montaha" — 

 the master of the mountain — and inti- 

 mated that in the performance of his 

 duty he would be grateful if we could 

 explain to him the object of our visit to 

 this region in which strangers were rarely 

 seen. Were we Germans ? he asked. No ; 

 from the United States, we. said. "Ah, 

 Englishmen," he replied, and we let it go 

 at that. 



He was the handsomest, most attrac- 

 tive specimen of native manhood I have 

 ever set eyes on. I had an absurd desire 

 in some way to "collect" him, and only a 

 realization of how sadly out of place he 

 would be far from his own habitat re- 

 strained me from the attempt. 



His conquest was completed by Patter- 



