[CHAPTER XXV.]
DOWN THE CUMBRES.—A MONSTER LOCOMOTIVE.—MALTRATA.—EL BARRANCA DEL INFERNILLO.—IN THE TIERRA TEMPLADA.—PEAK OF ORIZABA; HOW IT WAS ASCENDED.—AN OLD AND QUAINT TOWN.—EXCURSIONS IN THE ENVIRONS OF ORIZABA.—FALLS OF THE RINCON GRANDE.—MANUFACTURING INDUSTRIES.—CERRO DEL BORREGO.—THE MEXICAN ARMY ROUTED.—CORDOBA.—HOW TO RUN A COFFEE PLANTATION.—BARRANCA OF METLAC.—PASO DEL MACHO.—TIERRA CALIENTE.—DRY LANDS NEAR THE SEA-COAST.—VERA CRUZ.—ZOPILOTES AND THEIR USES.—YELLOW FEVER; ITS SEASONS AND PECULIARITIES.—NORTHERS AND THEIR BENEFITS.
THE "PORTALES," OR COVERED WALKS.
The plateau terminates suddenly at Boca del Monte, and here begins the descent of the cumbres. At Esperanza the train exchanged the ordinary locomotive for a monster one of great power; it looked like two locomotives placed end to end with a tender between them, and was specially built to take the trains over the extraordinary grades on this part of the road. High speed was out of the question, or at all events dangerous, and in descending the slope the train moved not faster than fifteen miles an hour. The schedule time of the ascent is twelve miles an hour, and the Brobdingnagian locomotive is taxed to the utmost of its ability.
MAP OF RAILWAY BETWEEN CITY OF MEXICO AND VERA CRUZ.