Page:Pictures of life in Mexico Vol 2.djvu/81

Rh to the Valley of Mexico is Cuautla; the houses of which city are small but cleanly; and the inhabitants good-humoured and lazy. The country adjoining abounds in sugar plantations haciendas and luxuriant forests; and swarms with miserable Indian labourers. Ayotla (near the mountains of Popocatepetl) and Tenango, are two of the concluding stages on the road to Mexico in this direction.

The peninsula of Yucatan is a province of Mexico but its situation is too isolated to be very dependent either commercially or politically upon the republican government. It is bounded by Vera Paz, by Chiapa and by Tabasco. The climate is hot and the ground hard but productive. It furnishes cotton wax, honey, cochineal, and valuable trees; and amber is to be found on the coast. Ancient Indian ruins and other curiosities have been discovered in this region; but few attempts have yet been made to cultivate either the country or the people.

The territory of Tabasco lies low and open. The district produces many fruits of the finest quality and timber trees of the greatest value. It is exceedingly subject to hurricanes and storms and is very unhealthy.