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260 This latter town is situated in a broad and very fertile plain, where cereals are cultivated. Some of the best agricultural land in the Republic lies between here and Leon. The population of San Juan del Rio is about 12,000, and the streets are wide and well paved. It was formerly one of the largest woolen manufacturing cities in the country. The train stops thirty minutes at this place for breakfast. The restaurant is very well kept, and the eastward and westward passenger-trains usually meet here.

Ahorcado (216 kilometres) is the next station; elevation, 6,258 feet. The track now runs slightly downward over a productive region, passing the immense cotton-mills at Hercules, and reaches Querétaro (246 kilometres).

Querétaro is the capital of the State of the same name, and was founded by the Aztecs about the middle of the fifteenth century. It was conquered by the Spaniards, under Fernando de Tapia, a lieutenant of Cortes, in 1531. The city contains many fine edifices, several public squares, and numerous paved streets. It has a temperate climate, and fruits, flowers, and the cereals grow abundantly in the environs. The water-supply comes from a neighboring mountain, by means of a stone aqueduct, some of the arches of which are ninety feet high. The cost of this structure was $124,000, the greater part of which was paid by the Marquis de Villar del Aguila, to whom the citizens have erected a statue on one of the plazas.