Mexico and the United States

whirlpools, and a high cascade. The Pánuco River rises north of the Valley of Mexico. Under the names of Tula and Montezuma it describes a vast semicircular bend towards the west across the Hidalgo uplands and collects the waters of the Huasteca of Veracruz and Tamaulipas, beyond which it is joined by the various streams flowing from Queretaro, and finally empties into the Gulf of Mexico at the port of Tampico. The Tampico bar, improved by jetties, is now the best harbor on our Gulf coast. The Rio Lerma or Santiago, the Tololotlan of the Indians, is also a considerable stream. By the riverain populations it is, in fact, known as the Rio Grande, while the inhabitants of Michoacan call it also Cuitzeo, from the large lake situated in their State. It rises in the State of Mexico in the very centre of the Anahuac plateau, and its farthest sources, issuing from underground galleries, descend from the Nevado de Toluca down to the twin lake of Lerma, the remains of an inland sea which formerly filled the Upper Toluca valley north of the Nevado volcano. At its issue from the lake, or rather marshy lagoon, the Lerma stands at the great altitude of 8600 feet, and during its winding northwesterly course across the plateau, the incline is very slight. In this upland region it is swollen by several affluents, some of which, like the main stream itself, flow from lakes dotted over the table-land. After completing half of its course at La Barca, the Lerma is still 5600 feet above sea-level. Here, some 280 miles from its source, it enters the large Lake Chapala, near its eastern extremity; but about twelve miles below the entrance it again emerges through a fissure on the north side of the lake, and still continues to flow throughout its lower course in the same northwesterly direction.

The Grijalva and Usumacinta rivers, rising in the State of Chiapas, after being joined by many others, some of them coming from Guatemala, empty into the Gulf of Mexico by one of its mouths at the city of Frontera in the State of Tabasco. The Papaloapam River rises in the State of Oaxaca, passes through the State of Veracruz, and empties into the Gulf of Mexico at the town of Alvarado, a few miles south of Veracruz.

The rains increase considerably the amount of water in the rivers, but as their duration is not very long this soon subsides. When the streams rise near the sea, as is the case on the coast of Chiapas on the Pacific, they become so swollen immediately after the rains that it is impossible to ford them, and as there are no bridges, it is necessary to wait until early the next day when the freshet has subsided.

Springs are rare, and some of the rivers run in deep mountain beds, without receiving smaller tributaries, while the rapid evaporation on a light soil, covering porous rocks, leaves the surface dry and hot and unable to support much vegetation beyond the cactus and low grasses.

We are blessed with quite a number of mineral springs, although very few of them are used, most of them being at places not easily accessible; but in this regard I do not think we have any cause to envy any other country.

CLIMATE.

By looking at the map it will be perceived that Mexico, being intersected by the Tropic of Cancer and stretching across eighteen parallels of latitude, must, from its position alone, necessarily enjoy a great diversity of climate. But from its peculiar configuration this feature is affected far more by the altitude of the land than by its distance from the pole or the equator. This is especially true of the more fertile and populous section lying within the torrid zone, where three distinct climatic regions are distinguished, not according to their horizontal, but according to their vertical position. The warm climate has the heat of the torrid zone and prevails on the sea-coast in the sandy and marshy tracts fringing the Gulf of Mexico and the Pacific. Ocean, in other low places below 3000 feet above the level of the sea, and in some of the valleys higher than that, but protected entirely from the winds. But the night breezes refresh the temperature in the evening and make it bearable during the day, the heat never being so oppressive as it is in summer in the more northern latitudes. This region is also much refreshed in summer by the rains, which are abundant and fall regularly during that season. The heat of the sun increases considerably the evaporation from the sea, and when the evaporation reaches the cool atmosphere of the sky, it is naturally condensed into water and falls in this region. The rains begin generally in June, increase considerably in July, and end in November, although this varies in different regions, the rains lasting longer in those near the sea than in the inland districts. They are so abundant that they form the main reliance of the agricultural industry, and there are few regions which use water for irrigation, depending entirely upon the rainfall; therefore, when in a year by some atmospheric phenomena, the rains are late or very scarce, we had a famine in Mexico, which can now be averted by importing cereals through our railroads, as was the case in 1893. The rains fall regularly and at fixed intervals, that is, about from one to three hours every day, and after the rain is over, the atmosphere is clear and pleasant, and in well drained places the ground becomes dry, so that it causes no inconvenience to the inhabitants.

The rains have such a decided effect on the atmosphere that in most of the country the seasons are divided into the rainy and dry season, and very few realize what spring and fall mean. As our climate is so even, the trees do not lose their leaves at any given time, but one

by one as they grow old and die; and as the leaves die they are replaced gradually and imperceptibly by new ones, so that the phenomenon familiar to northern latitudes, of trees losing all their leaves in the autumn and regaining them in the spring, is quite new to anybody going to a temperature that has both extremes.

The differences of climate depending upon the different degrees of altitude are so great in Mexico that the vegetable products of this vast country include almost all that are to be found between the equator and the polar circle.

The vege

The mean temperature in the hot region varies from 77 to 82 degrees, Fahrenheit, seldom falling below 60, but often rising to 100 degrees, and in the sultry districts of Veracruz and Acapulco occasionally to 104 degrees, although the heat is not oppressive as is the summer heat of the eastern portions of the United States. tation is, of course, in consequence entirely tropical. In the southern region the climate on both seaboards may be described as humid, hot, and rather unhealthy, and in places where stagnant water and marshes exist-which are often found on the coast on account of the sea water flowing in and remaining there-intermittent and remittent fevers prevail, and in some localities during the summer yellow fever and black vomit are endemic. These conditions could easily be remedied by proper drainage of the swamps and marshy districts.

The heat of the Gulf of Mexico when the atmosphere begins to cool in the polar regions causes a depression in the barometer, and consequently very strong north winds, which sweep over the coast with terrible force, causing great havoc. They generally begin in September and last until the winter season sets in about December. As the country is narrow, the effect of the north wind is felt all over it and that is the prevailing wind. In the City of Mexico, for instance, notwithstanding its altitude and that it is protected by high mountains from the northern winds, the temperature falls when the northerns prevail on the Gulf coast, and it becomes cloudy and drizzly, and the same effect is felt, more or less, in other portions of the country. As the country narrows towards the southeast, especially at Tehuantepec, the northern wind blows with but small obstacles, and its force and effects are felt all over it. The districts in the mountains bordering the Pacific are affected in the same way as the City of Mexico.

From 3000 to 5000 feet above the level of the sea is located our temperate zone, which succeeds the hot zone in a verticle position, and embraces all the higher terraces, and portions of the central plateaus themselves. The mean temperature is from 62 to 70 degrees, Fahrenheit, varying not more than 4 to 5 degrees during the season, thus making one of the very finest climates on the face of the earth. In this privileged region both extremes of heat and cold are unknown,

and it has several cities-Jalapa and Huatusco in the State of Veracruz, Chilpancingo in Guerrero, Ameca in Jalisco, and many others too numerous to mention here. As these places are generally located on the slopes of mountains and not far removed from the ocean, the evaporations from the sea form clouds which are detained in their course by the high peaks and are precipitated into rain. In this region the semi-tropical productions are abundant, and with them are often combined the products of tropical and cold regions. I have seen in my own native place, the city of Oaxaca, located in the temperate region, a farm where wheat and sugar-cane were growing on the same piece of ground.

The cold region is located from 7000 feet above the sea-level upwards, and has a mean temperature of from 59 to 63 degrees, Fahrenheit. Most of the grand central plateau is located in this region, except in such places as are in a great depression of ground and in deep ravines, where a warm temperature and tropical products are found. The rainfall is about five times less than in the temperate zone. This region, of course, produces all the growths of the cold latitudes, as wheat, oats, apples, etc., etc.

The portion of the country that is most thickly inhabited lies in the central plateau, and is quite high above the level of the sea, and so sheltered from the winds and storms by the mountains as to make the climate even, temperate, and delightful. The impression prevails in the United States that Mexico, lying to the south and running towards the equator, must be much warmer than this country; but this is not so. Even in warm places, like the lowlands on the coast, we do not have the extreme hot weather that is experienced in summer in the United States. The sea breezes refresh the atmosphere at night and cool it considerably, making, therefore, a very great contrast with the summer heat in this country. The medium climate of the Valley of Mexico, for instance, which is the one that has been best observed and understood, varies comparatively little between summer and winter, its greatest variations being between day and night on the same day.

The climatic conditions of Mexico are undergoing great changes on account of the destruction of the forests. The country had formerly a great deal of rain and much humidity in the atmosphere, being covered with thick forests; but with the difficulty of transporting the coal already found, the population has had to depend entirely for their supply of fuel upon charcoal, and this has in the course of time denuded the mountains, changing very materially the climatic conditions of some regions in the country. But in the lowlands, being thinly inhabited, the case is different, and the country is still so thickly wooded that it is impossible to pass through it, unless an open path

is made with a great deal of difficulty, by felling very high trees and low brush and weeds. In this region abound forests of mahogany, cedar, rosewood, etc. I will later state more in detail the conditions of the fuel question in Mexico.

As a whole, the Mexican climate, if not of the most invigorating nature, is certainly one of the most delightful in the world. The zone of temperate lands, oceanic slopes, enjoy an everlasting spring, being exposed neither to severe winter, nor to intolerable summer heats; in every glen flows a rippling stream; every human abode is embowered in leafy vegetation; and here the native plants are intermingled with those of Europe and Africa. Each traveller in his turn describes the valley in which he has tarried longest as the loveliest in the world; nowhere else do the snowy crests or smoking volcanic cones rise in more imposing grandeur above the surrounding sea of verdure, all carpeted with the brightest flowers. In these enchanting regions there is still room for millions and millions of human beings.

The following table prepared by the Meteorological Observatory of the City of Mexico shows the meteorological conditions of the principal Mexican cities during several years, their elevation upon the sea-level being marked in metres and the temperature under the Centigrade scale.

LOCALITIES.

SUMMARY OF THE METEOROLOGICAL OBSERVATIONS TAKEN IN SEVERAL CITIES OF MEXICO DURING SEVERAL YEARS.