330 PRODUCTIONS TOWNS ■ — DURANGO 1 BOUNDARY. 



tion against the frontier savages ; and thus they have been induced 

 to abandon agriculture for the wilder life of vaqueros or herdsmen. 

 Wheat, corn, beans and vegetables are easily raised in the best parts 

 of the State, and in the vicinity of Parras extensive vineyards have 

 been planted which produce an excellent wine. Horses, mules, 

 wine and corn form the home commerce of the State ; while in the 

 neighborhood of Santa Rosa, and of two or three other villages, a 

 small number of persons are engaged in the exploration of mines. 



The principal town of Coahuila is Saltillo, or, as it is some- 

 times called, Leona- Vicario, situated in the south near the boundary 

 of Nuevo Leon, twenty-five leagues westward of Monterey, at the 

 foot of a hill in the midst of a fruitful region. Its geographical po- 

 sition, according to Wislizenius, is about 25° 25' of north lati- 

 tude, and 101° west longitude from Greenwich. It is a well built 

 town, whose straight streets radiate at right angles from the public 

 square, in the middle of which a tasteful fountain constantly sup- 

 plies the population with excellent water. The population exceeds 

 20,000 ; and the town is celebrated for the production of woollen 

 blankets and serapes or ponchos, which are in demand all over the 

 Republic. 



San Fernando, or, La Villa de Rosas, is a town and military 

 post in the north of the State, south of the Rio Grande, containing 

 about 3,000 inhabitants. 



Monclova, is a town of 3,700 inhabitants on the Coahuila, an 

 affluent of the Rio Tigre. 



Parras lies west of Saltillo, on the east bank of the lake of the 

 same name, and some years ago was estimated to contain nearly 

 17,000 inhabitants, including the adjacent farmers, planters and 

 their laborers. It is celebrated for its grapes and wine, as we have 

 already remarked. 



The other villages and settlements worthy of note are Villa Longia, 

 Viesca y Bustamante, Santa Rosa, Guerrero, Cienegas, Abasoto, 

 Nadadores, S. Buenaventura, San Francisco y San Miguel Aguayo, 

 Capillania and Candela. 



THE STATE OF DURANGO. 



Durango is bounded on the north by Chihuahua ; on the west by 

 Sinaloa ; on the east by Coahuila, and on the south by Zacatecas 

 and Jalisco. 



