Mexico, the wonderland of the South . inutes until the company isseated, so as to make sure of getting a place at the righttable. Though meals are rather crudely served, the foodis generally well cooked and palatable. At Esperanza, mountain climbers can travel by road tothe village of Chalchicamula, whence a trail through thewoods leads to the foot of Mount Orizaba. This giant peakof over eighteen thousand feet is, next to Mount McKinleyin Alaska, the highest peak in North America. For anexperienced mountain climber the ascent is difficult butnot dangerous. In making the ascent, one passes thr
Mexico, the wonderland of the South . inutes until the company isseated, so as to make sure of getting a place at the righttable. Though meals are rather crudely served, the foodis generally well cooked and palatable. At Esperanza, mountain climbers can travel by road tothe village of Chalchicamula, whence a trail through thewoods leads to the foot of Mount Orizaba. This giant peakof over eighteen thousand feet is, next to Mount McKinleyin Alaska, the highest peak in North America. For anexperienced mountain climber the ascent is difficult butnot dangerous. In making the ascent, one passes throughall varieties of climates, from the sub-tropical region of thevalley to the pine woods of the north, and then on to thecold, icy, snow-capped Arctic regions. The scenes to bewitnessed on every side are magnificent. Travelling from Esperanza down to Vera Cruz, the descentin many places is so steep that steam-power is not train runs down the mountains by its own weight;brake-power only being necessary to regulate the FROM ORIZABA TO THE CAPITAL 39 After leaving Esperanza, the line reaches the flat table-lands, bordered with mountains in the distance, dry anddusty in the winter time. The country is dreary and mo-notonous, with scarcely a tree to be seen. Here and thereI noticed a big white hacienda building or ranch-house setin the midst of the plain, where large herds of cattle werebrowsing on withered grass, the only signs of cultivationbeing occasional fields where the dry, yellow Indian-cornstalks left from the last harvest were still standing. Thisdry, dusty appearance of the country was, I found, char-acteristic of the highlands of Mexico in the winter is then little or no rain, everything gets dry andparched, and only where there is an irrigated patch is thereany green vegetation. Sometimes the train passed overa dry watercourse, for in the higher lands most of thestreams and rivers dry up during the rainless the rains set in, th
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