Page:Mexico of the Mexicans.djvu/146

126 considerably from the recent unsettled conditions prevalent there.

The State of Michoacan has a Pacific coast-line. Its population is about 1,000,000. Part of it is plateau country, but the Southern portion is broken up into fertile valleys. That district of it which slopes to the Pacific is as yet undeveloped, and agriculture as a whole is rather circumscribed within its boundaries. The mining industry is important, and the famous silver mine of Dos Estrellas, situated near the boundary line with the State of Mexico, has one of the largest outputs in the world. A favourite place of resort in Michoacan is the Lake of Chapala, which attracts many foreign visitors and residents, and which has recently been considerably altered in its general appearance as the result of a severe earthquake. Michoacan is a cattle-raising State, and the annual value of its live stock is nearly £3,000,000. A great railway undertaking was in course of construction in this State prior to the revolutionary epoch, but how the venture stands at the present time one has small means of discovering.

Morelia, with a population of 40,000, is the capital of Michoacan, and was named after Morelos, the priest-patriot of Mexico, who was originally a follower of Hidalgo. It is rather a humdrum town, but has decided attractions as a place of residence, as it has delightfully clean streets, beautiful parks, and wonderful churches. It is typically a Spanish-colonial city. The houses are built of large blocks of stone, with enormous carved doorways, and now command extremely low rents. It is, indeed, a "Sleepy Hollow," and the only products of manufacture are silk shawls, a limited amount of cotton goods, palm hats, lace, and embroideries. The cathedral is one of the finest specimens of Spanish Renaissance church architecture in Mexico, and possesses an exquisite onyx font and silver doors to the shrines of its chapels. The inhabitants are intensely musical, and annual band-competitions draw thousands of interested listeners, the best