Page:Mexico, Aztec, Spanish and Republican, Vol 2.djvu/397

Rh broken, and a lower hilly country stretches out towards the southeast. The Panuco and the Santander are the only two rivers, and the lagunes of Chariel and Chila the only two lakes of importance in the State.

The climate of the mountain region and table lands is cold, while that of the lower elevations and flats towards the eastern boundary is much warmer, and, at certain seasons, very unhealthy.

The State of San Luis Potosi is divided into four departments, ten cantons, and fifty-two municipalities, with a population of over 300,000.

1st. Department of with the cantons San Luis, Santa Maria del Rio and Guadalcazar.

2d. Department of, with the cantons of Rio Verde and del Maiz.

3d. Department of, with the cantons of Tancanhuitz and De Valles.

4th. Department of, with the cantons of Venado, Catorce and Ojocaliente.

The agriculturists of San Luis are engaged chiefly in the production of corn, wheat, barley and fodder; all of which are yielded plentifully by the genial soil of the State. But the toils of the farmer and the generosity of the ground are not always repaid by suitable prices or a good market. Corn ranges from fifty cents to seventy-five the fanega; and even at this rate often lacks purchasers. Cattle are raised in large quantities, as in Zacatécas, Durango and Chihuahua. Manufactures are progessive. Woollen and cotton fabrics are produced of excellent quality and favor among the masses. Glass, leather, pottery and metallic wares are also made in large quantities, and a busy traffic in foreign goods is carried on with the port of Tampico, and the States of Zacatécas, Durango, Sonora, New Leon, Guanajuato, Mechoacan and Jalisco. The position of this State, and especially of its principal town, naturally makes it an entrepôt between the coast and the interior, for imports from America and Europe. Nevertheless, a small trade, only, exists in home products, and these are chiefly sent to New Leon and Coahuila.

The chief towns are, the capital of the State and seat of government, lying on a level plain, among the steep declivities of the Cordillera in the neighborhood of the sources of the Panuco, in 22° 4' 58" north latitude, 103° 7' west longitude from Paris, 5,959 feet above the sea. It is a regular, well built city, with broad, paved streets, a fine plaza or public square, and