The scenery of the Sierra Madre is remarkably fine, and surpassed by that of very few railway routes in the world. Frank compared it to that of the Brenner or Semmering passes of the Alps, and Fred said he was reminded of the Blue Mountains in Australia, and the route traversed by the railway between Colombo and Kandy, in Ceylon. But they agreed that it differed in some respects from all these routes, and had a beauty and grandeur of its own, just as did each of the places they had mentioned. On each side of the valley the mountains rose very steeply, and in many places they were nearly, if not quite, perpendicular. The rocks were of various shades, in which red had a prominent place, and on the steepest part of the slopes there was no place where vegetation could cling.
The best of the scenery was in the neighborhood of Garcia; beyond that point it became less grand, as the mountains were farther away in the widening valley, and the steep cliffs were less numerous. But the ascent was steady, and brought the train to the plateau and to a much higher elevation than that of Monterey. Monterey, as before stated, is 1800 feet above sea-level; Saltillo is at an elevation of 5200 feet, and consequently the railway ascends 3400 feet in passing from the former to the latter city.
The old route of the diligence before the railway was built afforded an exciting ride from San Gregario to Rinconada, as the descent was very rapid and the coach went down the incline with great rapidity. At one turn in the road there was a point where a misstep would have sent the whole conveyance down a precipitous slope of a thousand feet into the valley below. A thoughtful American who travelled that route years ago regarded the possibilities of such a slide, and estimated that the diligence, passengers and all, would be worth not more than nineteen cents a bushel after making the descent into the yawning gulf.
THE ORGAN CACTUS.
Frank and Fred wished they could gather some of the bright cactus-flowers which abounded along the route. There are many varieties of cactus in Mexico; in fact the country may be said to be the land of the cacti. Botanists have described more than sixty species; they vary in height and size from the little plant hardly larger than a spray of clover up to the gigantic growths that rise more than thirty feet above the ground. The flowers run from pure white to a deep scarlet and purple, and some of the flowers are of great beauty. A peculiarity of the cactus is that it thrives best in poor soils, and on a great part of the ground where it grows few other vegetable products could maintain an existence. The largest of the cactus family is scientifically known as the Candelabrum, but the Mexicans call it the Organo, or organ; it grows in straight hexagonal columns, and when many of these columns are clustered together it bears quite a resemblance to a church organ with its pipes. One variety of cactus nourishes the cochineal insect; another is used for hedges, and owing to the sharp spines for which the plant is noted, it forms an impervious barrier to man or quadruped. The cactus generally has inside its flower a mass of edible substance, and in some localities this cactus-fruit is collected and sold in the markets.
VARIETIES OF CACTUS.