Savannah courier. (Savannah, Tenn.) 1885-1979, 1886-06-10
THE ENCHANTED TOWNS.
Superstition and Tradition In the
Mexican Wilds.
The Beautiful Vermillion Sea-Searching
for Lost Cities and Heavenly Scenes
An Old Indian Guide Rsvives q
Current Legend.
tOriginal.l

lOrlRlndl.l
No scenery in Southern or Central
Mexico exceeds in point of grandeur
and beauty the view from the heights
of the Sierra Madre. Standing on the
top of this range and looking to the
west one sees on the horizon long
line of gold, which has been called the
Vermillion Sea. The panorama pre-
sented is such as Mexico only contains:
Peaks to their very SUBMITS covered
with verdure, canyons whose vast depths
the light of the sun never penetrates,
cliffs, springing from the regions of
perpetual summer, on whose brows the
clouds eternally rest. In the near dis
lance may be seen the foot hills, gradual
ly shading off into the vast plain bound
ed on the further side by the 'Vermil-
lion Sea-" The light of the sun shin
ing on the grand scenery, or bursting
through some handicapped mountain
peak, gives the whole an air of grand
eur and beauty calculated to astound
one even familiar with Alpine scenery.
In what is now the border between
the States of Durango and Sinaloa, this
region eliminates in mountains of rug
ged grandeur and canyons of dizzy
depths, remarkable even in Mexico.
Los Tres Frailes, Ell Cerro Pelon and
Quaguento lift their rock-crowned
heads above the clouds into the glare
of eternal sun, and from their feet,
through canyons which only the Yose-
mite can rival, flow the rivers San
Lorenzo, Piastla and Presidio These
streams, almost dry in the dry seasons,
are swelled to roaring torrents by the
rains. Surely nothing is more sublime
than the mad, dashing torrent thunder
ing down mountain cascades to the sea
of gold. Countless rainbows represent
ing every color of the prism, has crys-
talized the beauties of San Lorenzo
waterfalls for the world to admire.
Surely more fitting subject could not
tempt an artist, and in the near future
we may expect some ambitious student,
tired of copying the great masters, to
enter the study of Los Tres Frailes,
and bring back with him fame and
money. There he will find heights
sufficient for his imagination, rugged
grandeur, lights, shades and color that
would delight the heart of any painter.
1t is in these canyons that tradition
says the Reals Perdidos 0 Encdnta6los-
the lost or enchanted towns-are stu
ated. Often around the camp fire, or
ON the deer trail, climbing those rugged
heights, or hiding from the fierce rays
of the sun beneath some spreading
tepiguage, the traveller listens to some
gray-haired Aztec recounting the lost
glorles of Ell Naranjal and Juego de
Barras, which even the old Spanish
records mention, until fired by their
enthusiasm, he has almost resolved to
search for the orange groves, deserted
haciendas and rich mines said to exist
in some of these craggy canyons. The
outrageous peaks and deep, unfathom-
able canyons, are in places almost
without inhabitants An occasional
prospeotor searching for the Reals Per.
didos, or lost mining towns, fugitive
from justice or an occasional vaquero,
searching for lost stock, are all who
enter that trackless labyrinth of rocks,
forests and rivers. But the lower
country is not entirely populated with
enchanted towns. Los Realities are
hidden away in hooks and corners Of
this world set on edge-Ventaur, Guam.
samay, San Dumas, Fyoltita, San Vim.
cente, Bacis, Hirahuapau and San Jose
de Guaguaias, all mining towns, some
scarcely worthy the name, struggle
for existence against the barren
rock, swollen torrents and ever
varying luck of the miner. How true
the adage of the Mexican miner: La
Esperdnza muere al ultimo; (hopt
dies last of all,') and well he illus
trates it, pounding away at barrier
veins, hoping against hope. Will
HdSta Ia muerte Ia Suerte; ("'ti
death or luck" as his motto,) he works
away, and the nuerte more often hi
fate than the suerte. When luck,
miner has succeeded in making '',
raise" he is in constant danger of los
ing both his property and his life from
the banditti which hover about as vult
urcs about dead carcass, That fab
ulous wealth lies concealed in the bow
els of those hills, there can be no ques
ton; but it will require a different elias
of miners and a different state of societ,
than now exists in Mexico to develop IT
The tull blood Aztec seems to deligh
more in recounting the lost glories o
the Montezumas than to add to them
That the Mexicans were aware of tn
almost fabulous wealth contained il
these regions even before the appear
ance of fernando Cortez, there cal
be no doubt
The many legends of the Real
PerdtdoS o Encdntddos date bacl
perhaps a hundred years before tn,
conquest by the Spaniards. These lie
genas are beyond doubt founded on tn
enormous wealth the mountain mine
were known to contain. As storie
ever change to suit the age, CONSTANT
magnlfying. it is very easy to conceiy
how these buried mines of gold an
silver peeping out from the mountai-
sides could De changed to cities an
haciendas of wealth untold awaitin
the diseoyerer, The more ignoran