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Rh gradual, and can be accomplished on a mule. In the whole of this region wheat might be advantageously cultivated, the soil is good and in some parts luxuriant. A variety of plants grow wild, among the shrubs which spread themselves on every side. Among the rest we found the tea plant.

Santa Maria which is situated at an elevation of about 7,500 feet, is a considerable Indian village, and contains a population of three or four thousand, who chiefly find employment in the old city. In the colder months, many of them are occupied in carrying snow from the mountain, for the supply both of the Antigua and the capital. Here we procured guides, and set forward on foot; the ascent we found steep and painful, the path which was slippery with the dew, affording us a very uncertain footing. From the village, to the height of about nine thousand feet, only a few scattered pines, two or three cherry trees, and some wild apples diversify the scene. Soon after this we enter the middle region of forests, consisting almost entirely of American oaks; the soil here was composed of an exceedingly rich black loam, the wild cane we found growing to an amazing height and thickness. The hand plant (arbol de las manitas,) or cheirostemon platanoides, growing to a height of 40 feet, with its corolla glistening in scarlet and