( 4 ) 
Leaving Xico the road is good, and nearly level, for about 4 111. skirting 
the mountain watanca,but from there to Jalapilla it is very bad at this 
season, the grades in many places being steep, the soil being a sticky and 
slippery clay, and many places are found , where deep holes are caused by 
all the animals stepping in the same places, and each making them a bit 
deeper until they become knee deep. In other places there are inclined 
strata of rock of 20 to 25 degrees and it is more dangerous if the animals 
are shod. 
Don't believe we are exagerating the condition of the se^ roads , it is 
sufficient to say that Sr Almaraz who has visited a large part of the high 
mountain roads s^yis , that "these take first place for bad roads." 
The distance from Xico to Jalapilla is 22 kil.. 
L Jallapilla, meaning "sand in the water, "is a small village situated 
about 500 meters from the river, on the right side, from which it takes its ne 
name. ^ve passed this river by means of an arrangeme.it they called a swing. 
It consists of a rope, each end of which is attatched to a ti'ee,one each 
ban|*\,and on this rope a block travels from side to side, pulled byanoi.her 
5^^e. also there is a loop hanging from the block in which the person 
crossing aits. made a sketch of it which we include here with. The 
owners believe it to be safe but, but we were doubtful. The main rope, which 
carries the block is about 6o meters long and only 3 centimeters thick. 
Then the pulley , suppoosed to be a perfect circle is more like a poly- 
gon and the channel for the rope-'^ is very uneven causing undue wear on 
the rope. Passing "he Jallapilla river there is a climb of about 6 kil. 
passing the village of San Pedro Petlacotla, which means "tight rocks in 
in the road". Here the road is very bad, but with the advantage that it is 
not sticky, rocks predominating 
Finishing this climb, which is known as that of San Pedro, we come to a 
level stretch for a short distance and then begin the decline on the north 
side of he hill. This descent is called the i Bimentilla"at the end ofwhlch 
weare in the valley of the Panhuatlan stream , which we ford three times, 
it is narrow and the deepest part which i^e passed was not more than one 
meter In depth, and the water has a low velocity. The length of this flat 
is about 4 kil. bringing us to the Tuxpan (Pantepec ) river. 
On the marging where the pass is located there are a few huts, this village! 
being known as Paso Real(Royal Pass). From the pass begins a stiff climb 
of about 4 kil. ,the road being mostly a sticky clay. i 
The river here is about 150 meters wide. Here we passed ourselves and i 
equipment in a boat and swam the horses across, the river at the time being ; 
too deep to ford. 
Finishing this climb we find ourselves in the village of Pantepec ,meani ng i 
"on the mountain" , and it is near the highest point. The descent from Pan- i 
tepee is about 9 111. , and almost as bad as the ascent , passing which you can 
say you have finished with the mountains and arrived in the Huasteca. 
V\fe now proceed on flat land and cross a small stream known as the Colo- 
tla,9 times. Its width and depth are about the same as the Panhuatlan. dn 
this distance of about 10 kil we again cross the Pantepec river, at a place i 
called Los Haranj os , C the oranges), so called from the abundance of wild j 
oranges 
Here 
and limes in the vicinity, 
we again passed the river in a boat , recently brought here for 
the purpose, the animals swimming across. 
The river here is a little more than 150 meters v^ide .Passing the river 
the road continues on a plane for about 8 k. ;passing adeep small stream 
called"3ali se Puedes 
narrow and steeo banks 
(get out if you can)whlch is well named as it is 
of slippery clay, and the animals frequently fall anc 
