OVER THE HILLS.
They had breakfasted lightly before starting in the morning, and substantially at Ozumba; it was half-past three in the afternoon when they ended their railway ride, and the drive to the sugar estate occupied fully two hours. The drive was along roads lined with tropical trees and plants, and among plantations of bananas, sugar-cane, oranges, and other products of the warm region. The air was dense and hot, and by no means an agreeable change from the pure atmosphere of the Valley of Mexico.
Sugar is the chief product of the State of Morelos, the annual yield being over 60,000,000 pounds, or 30,000 tons. Next to sugar comes corn, the value of the corn product being nearly two-thirds as much as that of the sugar. Coffee, rice, wheat, and fruits are the remaining yields of the soil; and there are several silver-mines in Morelos, but they are not of great repute. The story is that they swallow up a great deal more than they produce, and are only worked when a capitalist happens along who has a few hundreds of thousands he is willing to part with.
A SCORPION OF CUERNAVACA.
A late and bountiful dinner was served at the plantation, and after a pleasant evening with the family of their host the strangers retired to rest. They were out early the next morning, ready for an investigation of the sugar-making process as it is conducted in Mexico.
Here is what Fred wrote on the subject:
"We have seen sugar-making in several parts of the world, so that there is nothing particularly new to us here. They have the most improved machinery for crushing, boiling, and refining, and there is a portable railway for transporting the sugar-cane to the mills. This railway is shifted from one part of the estate to another as it is wanted, and the saving of horse or other quadrupedal power is very great. The peons appear to be well fed and happy; but it must be remembered that it takes very little to support this class of the population. Nearly all the sugar consumed in Central Mexico is grown in the State of Morelos and the tropical region which immediately borders it. It is said that the business is less profitable now than in former times, owing to the low price of sugar.