Part 2—Chapter I.
Mexico and Central America.
Mexico.
If we glance over Mexico, we shall see that the country is, like the continent of which it forms a part, of a triangular shape,—the eastern portion bounded by the Gulf of Mexico, low and flat sandy deserts or noxious marshes being spread over it, and with a narrow belt of level land at the base of the mountains on the Pacific shore. A series of terraces broken by ravines form the sides of a vast table-land,—six thousand feet above the plain,—which stretches from north to south throughout the interior, separated here and there by rocky ridges into smaller plateaux; while vast mountains in several parts rise from their midst—that of Popocatepetl, the highest in Mexico, reaching to a height of 17,884 feet, with Orizaba, almost of equal elevation, and several mountains not much inferior to them, their snowy summits seen from afar, through the clear
atmosphere of that lofty region. Several are active volcanoes; the most curious being that of Jorullo, surrounded by miniature mountains emitting smoke and fire, and presenting the wildest scene of utter desolation. They form pinnacles of the great range of the Andes and the Rocky Mountains. From the midst of the great table-land of Anahuac, flows towards the north the river of Santiago, its course exceeding four hundred miles, passing in its way through the large lake of Chapala. Some of these table-lands are even eight thousand feet above the sea. The most lofty is so cold, that during the greater part of the day the thermometer varies between 42 degrees and 46 degrees. The great table-land to the east of the Sierra Madre has an elevation which varies from three thousand to six thousand feet. To the west of that sierra,
is the region of Sonora; while eastward, across the Rocky Mountains, is the great valley of New Mexico, watered by the Rio Grande del Norte, which has a course of nearly fourteen hundred miles.