Mexico weekly ledger., 1904-05-12
TWO EXCURSIONS.
Toluca and Teotihuacan Vast and
Mysterious Ruins-A Sudden
Farewell to Old Mexico.

Correspondence Of the Ledger
DIR. II. X. HINDE.
| We have now been In this interest.
Ing country four months and are be-
ginning to think Of turning our faces
homeward.
1t seems strange experience to
have left Missouri in October and
spent the intervening time till the
first OF May without seeing anything
Of winter, not even freeze or frost.
1t has been great privilege for which
/ feel profoundly thankful. Alas, /
shall miss quite q number OF dear
friends who have succumbed to the
cold winter weather, who apparently
had longer lease Of life than / when
left my Missouri home.
Since my last letter to the LEDGER
we have made two delightful trips out
OF the city. Toluca is the capitol Of
the State OF Mexico and is As miles
northwest OF the City Of Mexico. 1t
is reached by the National railroad
which to this point is wonderful
achievement OF railroad engineer
ing.
The mountain scenery is unsurpass-
ed by any have seen In the Republic
and excells in some respects that OF
Switzerland The road to Cuernavacca
must yield the palm to Toluca for
mountain scenery, except in the one
view and the ocean Of clouds in pass
ing over the mountain Ajusco.
| In passing over the Sierra de las
Cruises, going to Toluca, we reach an
elevation Of 1851 feet On the conti-
mental divide. The water on one side
running into the Pacific and on the
other the Gulf of Mexico.
The mountain sides on the road are
cultivated from base to summit and
present a most picturesque appearance
as they are laid out in the various
geometrical figures. Those not in
cultivation are covered with beautiful
variegated shrubbery, relieving them
OF the barren appearance of most OF
the Mexican mountains On the road
we pass through two famous valleys,
that Of San Franclscognito and Of
Lerma, which present the appearance
of highly cultivated flower bed minia-
ture farms.
These beautiful little farms, separ.
ated by the pulque plant,are owned by
the Indian proprietors themselves,
and there is no 'onc only master''
here.
Toluca is a large and interesting old
city, one Of the richest and most pros.
porous In the Republic. 1t Is quiet
restful place and we much enjoyed
several hours strolling around It's
beautiful plazas and visiting the
markets and fine cathedral. This is
the city where baskets and line linen
lace Is made by hand, and / was great.
ly amused seeing my wife bargaining
for lace In the sign language. had
no trouble buying beautiful basket
for about ten cents In Americcn
money.
1t was interesting to watch them
making the lace, very much like l saw
it In Brussels and In Switzerland.
Our last outing was to San Juan
Teotihuacan, about % miles northeast
Of the City of Mexico on the line of
the Mexican railroad to Vera Cruz,
which runs around the west and north
sides of Lake Texcoco.
We bad jolly party of eight ladies
and two gentlemen, one Of whom was
our pastor. The ladies we're mostly of
the faculty OF Mary Keener Institute,
our largest Methodist school In Mex
leo.
There was nothing Of interest along
the line Of our trip except the crossing
of the great drainage canal of which l
wrote In former letter. was anxious
to see with my own eyes this greatest
OF Mexican projects which cost so
many millions Of dollars and SO many
thousands of lives.
felt some pride on learning that
the great enterprise, which gives
permanency and health to this great
city, was engineered to complete sue
cess by plan furnished by an Ameri-
can engineer who came here with Gen.
Scott, 1S4s When we stepped off the
cars at the depot at San Juan we looked
around in vain for the town-there
was. none In sight. The only inhabi-
tant we could find was the Mexican
guide, who offered us his services for
the entire day for one dollar.
He invited us to rest awhile at his
house while he procured horses for
those Of our party unable to walk to
the Pyramids Of the Sun and the
Moon.
Three little donkeys were soon on
the ground, upon one of which bare
backed mounted my wife, and the
procession was of for the city of the
dead. One of the donkeys proved 10
be so noisy that the young lady from
Keener Institute declared she would
not ride such an animal and dismount-
ed. Mrs. Hinde as on a former oc-
casion at Cuernavacca, proved herself
an expert bareback rider. Our ap-
proach TO these great ruins reminded
me very wildly Of the day spent at
Pompeii. The two Pyramids are Of
about equal dimensions, 1900 yards
apart, due north and south from each
other.
They are Of rectangular form, being
1856 feet at the base from east to west
and 223 feet perpendicular height
Each pyramid consists OF five terraces,
diminished in size until the height OF
223 feet was reached, Each has on
one Of Its sides stairway 81 feet In
width, which makes five zlgzag turns,
and leads to the sanctuary or shrine
on the summit The outer surface OF
the pyramids was plastered over with
a mortar of lime, hard and smooth,
and decorated with frescOes, repre-.
senting historical events and scenes,
The two pyramids are united by a
straight street about 30 yards wide,