A NARROW STREET.
"The streets resemble those of Spain more than do any we saw in Mexico, Puebla, or Vera Cruz; they are narrow, crooked, and irregular, and separating solid old buildings with thick walls and heavily grated windows. The city has about 15,000 inhabitants, and there is said to have been an Indian town here at the time of Cortez's arrival. The houses cling to the hill-side as though afraid of falling off, and there is a good deal of uphill and down-hill in a walk through the streets; in fact it seems to be uphill no matter which way you go. An excellent feature about the streets is their cleanliness.
"Another vegetable product of the region around Jalapa is the vanilla, which was cultivated here long before the Conquest. The Indians had practically a monopoly of it at one time, but its cultivation has spread to other parts of Mexico and Central America, and also to distant countries. The best quality still comes from this part of Mexico, and the Indians show great skill in harvesting and curing the pods. The drying of the pods takes a long time, and if any mistake is made in the process, it greatly injures the value of the product.
"We had a fine view of the peak of Orizaba and the famous mountain of Perote, which, from its shape, is known as the cofre, or casket. At the base of this mountain is the town of Perote, which was famous during the Mexican War as the place where some Americans were imprisoned. Doctor Bronson says there was a novel of that time called 'The Prisoner of Perote,' which had a very large circulation.
"Downhill is easier than uphill all the world over, and nowhere more so than on a tram-way. We started from Jalapa at seven in the morning, and went flying down the road, turning curves at a gallop, dashing on as though pursued by a Nemesis or a pack of wolves, and raising clouds of dust wherever the roads were dry. Our hair stood on end half the time—figuratively at least; and I wished the mules could have told us what they thought of such recklessness. We breakfasted again at Rinconada, and at a little past four in the afternoon rolled into Vera Cruz."
Jalapa is to be connected with Puebla and the city of Mexico by the Interoceanic Railway, perhaps before these words appear in print, as a part of the line is already built and work is being pushed on the remainder. As has been shown on previous pages, it is the intention to carry the railway through to the Pacific Ocean by making use of the line already completed from the capital to Morelos and Yautepec. Another Pacific line has been surveyed from Puebla through the State of Oajaca, and a part of the road has been built.
On their return trip from Jalapa to Vera Cruz our friends made the acquaintance of a railway engineer who had been at work upon the line from Tampico westward. He was enthusiastic about the future of Tampico, and predicted that when the railway had formed its connection with the National and Central lines Vera Cruz would be "out in the cold," as he expressed it. "Tampico has," said he, "a harbor that can be greatly improved by dredging away a part of the bar, which is now dangerous; the town is five miles up a river, and affords the shelter which a ship cannot find at Vera Cruz. With the dredging I mentioned, the port can be used by the same class of vessels that now go to Vera Cruz. Tampico will get all the business when the railway is completed and the line opened to the capital."
