1894 
Orizaba 
(Vera Cruz) 
January 
San Juan 
The house has a handsome garden in front with flowers, fountains, etc. 
This place is the point of departure for Huatusco and the coffee crop 
from there is shipped here by pack mules, 
January 31* The morning was beautifully clear and a very fine view 
of the Peak of Orizaba rising nearly 15,000 feet above us with its snowy 
summit rose-tinted by the first rays of the sun and its wooded base hay- 
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ing a soft purple haze thrown error its butresssd outlines. Below, in 
the foreground, were the coffee fields over-shadowed by the braid banana 
plants. Trees of many subtropical genera arose in belts and patches 
among the fields and the clear musical notes of Harnorhynoh longirostris 
and the ”.?hat Cheer" bird arose clear and sweet from the masses of 
foliage all about. Here and there came the cries and notes of the ruffed 
cow-bird and Suraichrasb * s blackbird. After on uncomfortable night on a 
hard bed at the rude fonda near the station, we were eager to set out on 
our journey toward Mirador, At 9 a,m, we succeeded in getting away and 
spent the entire day up to 2 p,m, in reaching the Tillage of San Juan, 
Cur route lay nearly due north crossing the broad open slopes ex¬ 
tending down fr 
«24i 
the mountains with small canons at irregular internals. 
About 7 miles out of Fortin we crossed a fine barranca full of ferns and 
•k 
other vegetation. Here, at an altitude of about 3500 feet, we saw for 
the first time small tree ferns from 6 to 10 feet high, with the trunks 
3 to 5 indies in diameter. Early in the afternoon we reached a sleepy 
little town called San Juan where wo were forced to lay over till the 
nest day as our mule driver refused to take us further. 
February 1* Early in the looming, soon after sunrise, I went out 
in the street to get a photo of the summit of Orizaba and a small shop¬ 
keeper, seeing me in front of his place, came out and politely invited 
me to go up to his baloony whence I got a very fine view of the 
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tain 
