THE RIVER AT ORIZABA.
"There's a pretty river flowing through Orizaba, and it is useful to the inhabitants in many ways. When we saw it there was not much water in its bed, but they tell us that at some periods it is a rushing torrent of great force and volume. It turns several mills, and is the resort of the women whose duty it is to cleanse the soiled linen of the rest of the inhabitants. Laundry-work here is about as it is in the rest of Mexico, and the rough handling of shirts and other garments by the lavanderas converts them into rags in a very short time. This is good for the cotton-factories of Orizaba, which turn out a fair quality of goods, but are said to be unprofitable for their owners. We have better reports of the flouring-mills here, and also of a paper-mill which was established by an American several years ago. As the Mexicans become better educated the demand for paper is likely to increase; at present it does not take a large number of mills to supply their wants in this respect.
HILL OF EL BORREGO.
"The people of this city are less eager to point out the hill of El Borrego than are the Pueblans to indicate the scene of the battle of Cinco de Mayo. The latter was a Mexican victory, while the battle of Borrego was a disastrous defeat. Four or five thousand Mexicans were surprised and put to flight by a few hundred French troops. The French say there were not over one hundred in the attacking party. It was a night surprise, and the French had all the advantages of a nocturnal assault. In justice to the Mexicans it should be added that the assailants were old soldiers, while the surprised army was composed of raw recruits, who are proverbially easy to throw into a panic, especially in the darkness. The same troops made a good record for themselves later in the war."
From Orizaba our friends continued their railway journey into the tierra caliente, passing Fortin and Cordoba, the latter the centre of a coffee-growing district of considerable importance. A German gentleman who had a coffee estate near Cordoba was in the carriage with Doctor Bronson and the youths, and gave them some account of the industry; Fred made notes of his remarks, and afterwards wrote them out in full, with the following result:
"Cordoba is less important now than it has been, owing to the decline in the prices of sugar and coffee; it was founded in the early part of the seventeenth century, and for a long time its industries were the growing of sugar-cane and tobacco. Coffee is a comparatively recent introduction; we produce annually in the Cordoba district about 10,000,000 pounds of coffee, and five times as much tobacco, and our coffee and tobacco have a high reputation in the market. Coffee grows in the lower regions of Mexico, and up to elevations of four, or even five, thousand feet; the best site for a plantation is about 3000 feet above sea-level; but it must be remembered that the coffee-tree requires a great deal of moisture, and unless a region is warm and wet it will not answer for a successful experiment."
