-— ~ A Journey through Yucatan.— Mr. A. •: 
Woeikof, who had been engaged for some time at \ 
Washington on Coffin’s unfinished work, entitled 
Winds of the Globe , contributes to Peterman n’s i; 
Geographische Mitthcilungen for June, a narrative of a [ 
journey through Yucatan and the south-eastern pro- ! 
vinces of Mexico, accompanied by a map of the country 
traversed and the neighbouring regions. Contrary to i 
a statement in Grisebach’s Vegetation der Erde, 
Mr. Woeikof asserts that the scanty vegetation of 
Yucatan is not due to the absence of summer rains, 
but rather to the porous nature of the limestone 
through which the water rapidly filters away. Rivers 
and springs are exceedingly rare, and wealth consists 
in water more than land. The rains that fall from 
the end of May to the beginning of October are 
sufficient for the cultivation of the soil to furnish 
food for the sparse population; but water for 
domestic purposes is conducted into artificial reser¬ 
voirs during the rains. Water also collects in sub¬ 
terranean natural caves, in the vicinity of which 
the people build their huts. In spite of the difficulties 
attending cultivation of any sort, it is j ust in the most 
unfavourable part of Yucatan where the inhabitants 
t make most profit out of the productions of the soil. 
The principal vegetable product is the fibre of an 
Agav^^^sbalana. At the present time there are 
upwarai* of one Hundred steam engines employed in 
the preparation of this fibre, which makes excellent 
' cordage, ttyougn inferior to Hemp. It is largely ex- 
I " ported to the United States, and, in fact, it is almost 
the only article of export. It is very cheap. Indian 
j Corn and Sugar-cane are the only other plants com¬ 
monly cultivated. The mode of growing Maize is the 
simplest imaginable. Towards the end of the dry 
season (March and April) the bush is cut down and 
burnt, and the Maize sown in the ashes. No more 
Sugar-cane is cultivated than is actually required, 
because it needs irrigation. 
