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 Geographical.

Between the Pacific Ocean on the west, the Gulf of Mexico on the east, the United States on the north and Guatemala on the south, lies the Republic of Mexico, extending from the 15th to the 32d degree of north latitude, and from the 86th to the 116th degree of longitude west from Greenwich. From north to south the length is nearly 2,000 miles; from east to west about 8co at the widest part, with an area of 772,652 square miles. Along the Gulf coast the low ground extends a distance into the interior, called the tierra caliente, or hot land; then it rises in terraces to the table-lands called the tierra templada, temperate land, and still to the regions of higher elevation, to the terra fria, or cold land. In the tierra caliente it is summer always; in the tierra lemplada eternal spring; in the tierra fria it is rarely cold enough for snow or ice.

On the table lands of the interior there is a wide expanse of treeless plains, and but for the grand army of the cactus would be plantless, save in the valleys, where trees line the banks of the little s@os and lakes and irrigating canals, but on the coast slopes and the low lands there are tangled forests of tropical verdure. The table lands of the highest altitude are those in Central Mexico. The plain of Toluca is about 8,575 feet above the sea; the Valley of Mexico 7,478; Puebla about the same as the Valley of Mexico, but for the most part a little higher. The table lands of the north range from 2,000 to 5,000 feet above the sea. Humboldt said he could drive his carriage from the City of Mexico to Santa Fé without the trouble of preparing a road; certainly he would not have found it necessary to cut down a tree, but it would be a rocky road, up hill and down dale.

Climate—Not on earth is there a more equable, more delightful climate than is found in Mexico. Winter and summer alike are made up of delightful days; in winter of cloudless skies, in summer of cooling showers.

It is an erroneous idea that it is not safe or pleasant to travel in Mexico in summer; in the interior the summer time is the most delightful. The only difference between summer and winter is that it rains in the summer 7