Page:Travels in Mexico and life among the Mexicans.djvu/435

 are respectively 7,462 and 7,047 feet above the sea; but the elevation at El Paso del Norte is only 3,800 feet. The table lands of Chihuahua are from 4,000 to 5,000 feet."

Exceedingly rough hill and mountain work presents itself, first, in securing egress from the valley of Mexico itself, and again in the States of Guanajuato, Zacatecas, and Durango. Intervening between these ridges are broad valleys and immense plains, which offer few obstacles to the railway constructor of the present day. The region, throughout the entire distance traversed by the trunk line, is the healthiest in the world; but the coast termini of its Gulf and Pacific branches are in a climate not noted for its salubrity.

In the Statistics of the Republic of Mexico for 1880, Señor Barcena, a high Mexican authority, thus describes the route:—

"On leaving the city of Mexico, the road runs to the fertile valley of Tula, in which cereals are cultivated with great success, and to which come the agricultural productions of Ixmiquilpam, and of various warm regions found to the north of Mezquital, among the mountains of the State of Hidalgo. Here are also found various sorts of building and ornamental woods. On the road's advancing toward Queretaro it encounters the productions of the valleys of Huichipam, San Juan del Rio, etc., where are cultivated, on a very large scale, the grains which now come to the market of Mexico City. From Queretaro the road enters the Bajio, an extensive and rich region, where every year are raised enormous crops of cereals. In these regions are raised many irrigation crops, since there is an ample supply of water in the dry season, coming from the tanks on the plantations. Besides, subterranean water is found at little depth, which facilitates irrigation, and to this are due the vegetable gardens and the orchards of Leon and Salamanca.

"From Leon the road will pass on to Lagos, where will be found an abundance of wheat and other grains, coming from the valley of Lagos itself, and from those of Arandes, Atotonilco, Tecuan, etc. In following the general route, the road touches the important city of Lagos, and afterward San Juan, Jalos,