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 tram connects with the city. The inhabitants are mostly engaged in silver mining.

Passing Irapuato, Salamanca, and Celaya, we come to Queretaro—capital of the State of that name—a beautiful and interesting city—familiar to all as the place where Maximilian, Miramon, and Mejia were executed. The place is marked by three crosses.

Along the line of the railway, as elsewhere, many memorial crosses may be seen. Sometimes they mark the scene of deadly combat, and again, point the traveler to the spot where a murder has been committed,



and ask the prayers of the faithful for the repose of the soul thus violently launched into eternity without the last rites of the Church. The piles of stones about the crosses represent the petitions that have been offered up, and, judging from the heaps we saw, the mute appeal must be seldom disregarded.

San Juan del Rio is reached, and we ascend from its lovely and picturesque valley and along the elevated region to Marquez. We then descend into the beautiful Tula Valley, with its varied scenery and tropical growths. Every village has its history, with traditions older still.

Our reflections are broken and we are warned of the approaching