The Project Gutenberg EBook of Mexico, by Charles Reginald Enock

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Title: Mexico
Its Ancient and Modern Civilisation, History, Political
Conditions, Topography, Natural Resources, Industries and
General Development

Author: Charles Reginald Enock

Editor: Martin Hume

Release Date: April 2, 2007 [EBook #20959]

Language: English

Character set encoding: ASCII

*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK MEXICO ***

Produced by Ron Swanson

THE SOUTH AMERICAN SERIES
EDITED BY MARTIN HUME, M.A.

[Frontispiece: AN IDYLL OF MEXICO: INDIAN CARRIERS, RUINED CHURCH, AND
SNOW-CLAD PEAK OF ORIZABA.]

MEXICO

ITS ANCIENT AND MODERN CIVILISATION
HISTORY AND POLITICAL CONDITIONS
TOPOGRAPHY AND NATURAL RESOURCES
INDUSTRIES AND GENERAL DEVELOPMENT

BY

C. REGINALD ENOCK, F.R.G.S.

CIVIL AND MINING ENGINEER
AUTHOR OF "PERU" AND "THE ANDES AND THE AMAZON"

WITH AN INTRODUCTION BY
MARTIN HUME, M.A.

WITH A MAP AND SEVENTY-FIVE ILLUSTRATIONS

NEW YORK
CHARLES SCRIBNER'S SONS

_First Edition_ 1909
_Second Impression_ 1910
_Third Impression_ 1912
_Fourth Impression_ 1914
_Fifth Impression_ 1919

_(All rights reserved)_
PRINTED IN GREAT BRITAIN

PREFACE

The purpose of this work is to treat of Mexico as a topographical and
political entity, based upon a study of the country from travel and
observation; a method such as has found favour in my book upon Peru.
The method of viewing a country as a whole, with its people,
topography, and general conditions in natural relation to each other,
is one which commands growing acceptance in a busy age. I have been
able to observe much of the actual life and character of
Spanish-American countries from considerable travel therein. Both
Mexico and Peru ever lured me on as seeming to hold for me some El
Dorado, and if I have not reaped gold as the Conquistadores did, there
are nevertheless other matters of satisfaction accruing to the
traveller from his journeys in those splendid territories of mountain
and forest.

Mexico, superfluous to say, is not part of South America, although this
book appears in this series. But it is part of that va