OBSERVATIONS’ ON THE GEOGRAPHY AND GEOLOGY 
OF WESTERN MEXICO, INCLUDING AN ACCOUNT 
OF Sl EAGER hO PMERCADO, 
BY O. C. FARRINGTON. 

The observations upon which the accompanying paper is based 
were gathered by the writer during a two weeks’ journey in the 
State of Durango, Mexico, made in the spring of 1896. The jour- 
ney was so brief that detailed study of the region was not possible. 
The territory is so little known, however, that even the fragmen- 
tary observations that could be made seemed worthy of preservation. 
The region especially to be described is that indicated by the 
route shown on the accompanying map (Plate LIV.), leading from 
the city of Durango westward to the mining town of Villa Corona, 
commonly called Ventanas. The distance in a direct line between 
these two places is about seventy miles, but the circuitous route 
which must be followed necessitates traveling fully one hundred 
miles. “Travel must be accomplished either on foot or by pack- 
train. The writer’s journey was made both ways by pack-train, 
which traveled on the outward journey at a rate of about twenty 
miles per day, while the return was made at a somewhat greater 
speed. The course followed, for the most part the usual route from 
Durango to Mazatlan, between which cities a certain amount of 
traffic is regularly carried on. Numerous mining camps scattered 
through the intervening mountain region obtain their supplies chiefly 
from these centers. The territory covered was all comprised within 
the State of Durango. In a general way the route passed across 
the western portion of the interior plateau of Mexico, rising gradually 
from a height of about 6,000 feet at Durango to one of about 9,000 
feet, and then a descent was made down the western or Pacific slope 
to a level of about 2,000 feet. 
No previous account in detail regarding the geography or geology . 
of this region has, so far as the writer is aware, ever been published. 
In a journey from Santiago Papasquiaro southward, Lumholtz 
touched at San Dimas and Ventanas, and has given a few brief notes 
regarding general features of the country.* 
*Unknown Mexico, Vol. I., p. 452. 
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