The Forest Republican. [volume] (Tionesta, Pa.) 1869-1952, 1891-07-01


the horn at California catercornered
across it to its tip at Guatemala would
be as long as the distance from New
York to Denver. The horn Is about 15O
miles wide at tho bottom or tip, and
about 500 miles wide at its roots where
1t Joins on to us. In its curve it EN-
braces the Gulf of Mexico, and the Pa
citic Ocean washes its other side. It is
not smooth horn by any means. Great
mountains lie all along its top, aud this
top is vast rolling table-land, the most
of which is mile above the sea. I had
imagined this great Mexican plateau,
which runs from the north to the south
throughout the entire country, to be a
flat. 1t is rolling aud is made up of des-
ert wastes, rich valleys and Of mountains
which have for the past 200 years been
furnishing great part of the gold and
silver of the world.
Mexico is land OF good sized cities.
Its capital, which is away at the south,
has more than 300, 900 inhabitants.
Gaudalahara has 100, 900, and there are
n number of towns, the names of which
are practically unknown to us, which
have twenty-five thousand and upward.
II is land OF many climates. Along
the coast you have the tropics with all
of their rich vegetation, their fruits, and
also, learn, their tigers and tarAntulas.
In the higher mountain regions it is cold,
but on this Mexican plateau you find the
ideal climate of the world. This plateau
constitutes the greater part Of Mexico,
and this may be called the climate of
Mexico, Here the climate is the perfec.
tion of pleasant June in Ohio the year
around. The air is as pure as that which
sweeps over Egypt from the desert in
winter time, and south Italy and Greece
can furnish no more beautiful skies than
these.
Think of country where the crops
grow in luxuriaut greenness all the year.
Where the rose grows into trees and
flowers bloom forever. l saw yesterday
men harvesting crops in one end of a
field while other men were planting tho
same crops at the other. Upon parts of
this plateau strawberries are ripe during
every week of the year aud everything
seems to grow at any time 1t is planted.
The rule about Silao is two crops of
wheat from the same ground year and
l zee that in harvesting the wheat is
pulled, root and all, from the ground,
and this air and sun form the only man
ure. This part of the Mexican plateau
is like a garden. There is some irraga-
ton, but in many places the crops grow
without it, and / rode for miles yester-
day through lands which were as rich as
guano and as black as the rich soil that
makes glad the valley of the Nile. The
lands along the coast arc, l am told, even
richer than these uplands and the beauti-
full valley in which Mexico City is located
is one of the garden spots of the world.
Mexico City is about 1000 feet above the
sea.
The Mexican plateau is not, however,
by any means all green. There are vast
deserts like those of Arizona and Nevada,
and in coming here through the great
State of chihuahua on the Mexican Cen
tral Railroad l travelled for two days
through n binding blaze of dusty sand
in which the only green thing was the
cactus, which grows there in all its
beauty and in ell its ugliness. These
deserts are in some places fit for grazing
and MeXicans tell me that on them are to
be the great cattle-raising grounds OF the
future. Vast tracts of them will be re-
deemed by irrigation and thousands Of
acres have already been reclaimed. The
land when irrigated makes splendid cot
ton ground, aud one tract produced 81
600 bales last year. A number of new
companies are now being formed and
Americans are largely interested in them.
The low lands which slope from the
plateau down to the coast do no; need
irrigation. They have an immense rain
fall during the rainy season aud vegeta-
ton grows as rank as that of the jungles
of India.
The whole OF this country partalses of
the Orient. The moment you cross the
Rio Graude you are in the lands of the
romantic east rather than in the practical
west. The air, the sky and nature are
those of Palestine in spring time, and
the architecture reminds you now of
Moorish Spain and again of the mud huts
of Egypt. The people are among the
most picturesque on the globe. Every
man is tit subject for painting, and
the American artist, Mr.. Church, who
has spent seven winters in Egypt sketch.
ing, says he finds Mexico a much more
fertile field than the well-worked coun.
tries of Europe. As soon as crossed
the Rio Grande 1 saw at every station
lusty brigand-like men, with handsome
dark faces shining out from great SOM
breros, the crowns of which came to Il
poinAa foot above their heads, and the
bruins of which seemed to be foot wide
all around. These hats were gorgeous
in their silver and gold trimmings. Some
Of them had ropes of silver around them
almost rs thick as your wrist, and they
formed only part of the glittering cos
tunes Of these Mexican dudes. Tn
clothes below them shone with silver but
tons and braid. The pantaloons OF SOM
OF the men were striped with silvel
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