The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1897-02-05
The Mexico OF To-Day.

The current quarterly Bulletin Of tho
American Geographical Society contains
m important article on Mexico, contrib
uted by Mr.. ROMERO. so long the Minister
from that country TO ours. II Is a remark
able condensation Of interesting facts con-
corning the n~eighboring republic.
Mexico has the shape OF n cornucopia, with
its widest end toward the United States,
and this, says Mr.. ROMERO. has been con-
sidered, allegorically, as a sign that 1t will
pour its wealth and products into this coun-
try" He Is confident that 1t will at no dis
tant day provide us with most Of the tropi-
cal products, such as sugar, coffee, and to-
bacco," which we now import from other
countries. Mexico has given us q great deal
OF territory, the amount being $685. 03
square miles, exclusive Of Texas, and 930-
500 squar miles with that State, while she
has an area OF 787, 22e square miles.
In grandeur OF scenery Mr.. ROMERO re-
CARDS Mexico as the superior Of Switzerland:
but the snow line is low in tie latter, and
thus she surpasses Mexico in the charms Of
her snow peaks, as well rs in her beautiful
lakes, good roads. and fine hotels. Yucatan,
n level country. differs remarkably In con-
figuration from Mexico proper. and It's ruins
show II TO have been the seat Of an advanced
people. DR.. LIE PLoNGEoN recently declared,
In his book called Queen Moo and the
Egyptian Sphinx" that the empire Of the
Mayas, in Yucatan, was the cradle Of civil
~ization, which passed thence to India, Egypt,
Greece. and Western Europe.
Vast stores Of the precious metals are
found in Mexico. and copper. iron In i'm
mense masses, lead, tin. platinum, and Gin
nabar are among noteworthy products.
Two great ranges of mountains traverse the
country, one near the Pacific and the other
near the Gulf OF Mexico. Between these
is n series Of rich valleys, delightful In ell.
mate, known a. the Central Plateau, so
level that even when there were no wagon
roads one could travel In a carriage from
the City Of Mexico to Santa Fee" The high
est peak is Popocatapetl, H. $40 feet.
There are no good harbors on the Gulf
coast. Vera Cruz is an open roadstead on
which large sums have been expended. On
the Pacific there are good ports ut Acapulco,
Manzanillo, and In Paz. There are few
large navigable rivers, the high mountains
and broken surface turning the streams
mostly into torrents, with cascades, while
the Rio Grande after freshets becomes
dry In places. The rains begin in June,
increase In July, and end in November, ex-
cept that they last longer on the sea than
inland. They fall from one to three hours a
day, and then the atmosphere becomes clear
and pleasant. The differences in altitude are
SO great as to give Mexico an extraordinary
variety Of products. As a whole, the climate
IN ppa NJ the pnnaf daliohtfpl L. 81. rz-Il
and its evenness in many places makes the
country valued rs a sanitarium.
Flowers are abundant, and "a bouquet
which in New York would cost IS In
winter, could be had in the city of Mexico
all the year round for 25 cents" 30 that
Mr.. ROMERO looks for the time when
flowers will be exported in large amounts
to the United States. Mexico has also
magnificent trees, including ia varieties
OF building and cabinet woods, twelve OF
dye woods. and eight OF gums: the cacayo
and india rubber, copal, liquid amber,
camphor, mezquite, yielding a substance
resembling gum arabic, dragon tree, tur-
pentine pine, and almacigo, from which
last sandarac is extracted. There are sew
enteen varieties Of oil-bearing trees and
plants, including the sesame and the tree
that yields the balsam OF Peru. or the
bananas there are about twenty varieties,
some growing fruit twelve to fifteen inches
in length and two to three in diameter. The
orange region Is free from frosts. In the
hot zone is raised tobacco, (which. in Gen.
GRANTS estimation, was superior to the
Havana article The cactus yields freely
a white juice called pulque, used az
a beverage, being a tonic and nutritive,
yet Intoxicating il imbibed in large quaint
ties. Other cacti yield n drink called mes
cal, which has therapeutic qualities. The
Yucatan cactus has n fibre like manila, ex-
ported in large quantities to New York.
or the people about 10 per cent. are OF
European descent, 40 native Indians, and
3S mainly a mixture OF the two. Mr..
ROMERO finds a great similarity between
the indian and the Asiatic Malay races,
notably the Japanese. in their very black
hair and eyes, brown or yellow color, and
slight obliquity Of the eyes. When he saw the
first Japanese Embassy at Washington in
1859, he thought that IL he had collected 40
Mexican Indians and put them in the same
gorgeous costume. no observer would have
detected the difference. Minister TATENo
found during his short stay in Mexico sew
eral words that are used in Japan. There
were formerly about $50 different Indian
languages, but many ave disappeared
either wholly or in part, and most Indians
speak Spanish, although imperfectly.
The upper lands being the healthiest,
about three-fourths Of the population live
In the cold zone; from 10 to 10 per cent. In
the Temperate, and only the small re-