The capital city, Merida, lies in the north-west part of the state. This is a vast flat region of dreary aspect, unwatered by rivers or streams, arid and dry, stretching to the Bay of Campeche on the one hand, and the great Terminos lagoon. This desolate region, nevertheless, affords the main source of wealth of the state, and that for which it has become famous, the henequen, or Sisal hemp, the valuable fibre-producing plant which grows there in millions. In this region are the curious wells, or natural ground-caves of water, which excite the notice of the traveller, and which appear to be connected with underground streams.
Other agricultural products are sugar-cane and cereals, whilst there are extensive woods of valuable timber, bordering upon Guatemala and British Honduras, including the famous dye-woods, and other classes for constructional purposes. In the southern part of the state also, there is a great zone of fertile land, crossed by various streams and rivers of small hydrographic importance.
The coast-line of the Peninsula of Yucatan is more than 600 miles in length, extending round three sides of the peninsula. The climate of the eastern coast is rendered torrid by the heat of the Gulf Stream, which sweeps between it and the island of Cuba. The principal port, Progreso, is an open roadstead where no shelter is obtained, the old abandoned port of Sisal being superior. Some score of miles off the north-east coast is the island of Cozumel, where Cortes first landed on his voyage of the Conquest. Yucatan contains the remarkable ruins of the Maya civilisation—a field of great research. These splendid remains of prehispanic architecture are of the utmost interest and beauty, and have received much attention from famous archæologists. The great forests of the state, extending over a large area of territory, are the habitat of a varied fauna, including the panther, the tapir, wild boars, boa constrictor, crocodile, and other ferocious kinds, as well as deer, and a variety of bright-plumaged birds. Yucatan is without minerals, its geological formation being of the younger sedimentary rocks.
The Territory of Quintana Roo, before mentioned, was separated from Yucatan, due to its long possession by the Maya Indian tribes, who, however, have now been overcome, and are under peaceful control. The population is only about 3,000. The topographical formation is similar to that of Yucatan, great calcareous, undulating plains of recent geological times. The climate is hot, tempered at times by the sea breezes and the heavy rains. There are no streams, except the Hondo river, flowing into British Honduras, but the land is watered to a certain extent by the cenotes, as the rain-water deposits in the calcareous rock are termed, which supposedly are connected with subterranean streams. This territory is the home of the descendants of the Mayas, some of the most intelligent of Mexico's aboriginal people to-day, and they long resisted, and until a few years ago, the control of the Mexican Government. The territory borders upon British Honduras—Belize—and the supplying of arms by British traders to the insurrectionary people a few years ago caused much trouble to the Mexican Government and became the matter of diplomatic discussion. All this is now duly settled, and the region is in a tranquil state.
The remarkable variety of natural products and conditions of the states forming the Federal Republic are thus shown. Each state has its proper machinery of government, civil control, and education, and each is working out its own destiny, slowly, but surely, in conjunction with its neighbours of the Federation.
CHAPTER XVI
MEXICAN FINANCE, INDUSTRIES, AND RAILWAYS
Financial rise of Mexico—Tendencies toward restriction against foreigners—National control of railways—Successful financial administration—Favourable budgets—Good trade conditions—Foreign liabilities—Character of exports and imports—Commerce with foreign nations—Banks and currency—Principal industries—Manufacturing conditions—Labour, water-power, and electric installations—Textile industry, tobacco, iron and steel, paper, breweries, etc.—Railways—The Mexican Railway—The Mexican Central Railway—The National Railroad—The Interoceanic—Governmental consolidation—The Tehuantepec Railway—Port of Salina Cruz—Other railway systems.
The rise of Mexico, within a few years, from the position of a poor and somewhat discredited state to that of a nation with a regular budget surplus, and a credit in European markets which provides her with loans without other security than her good faith, has been very generally acclaimed as the beginning of a new era in the Spanish-American world.