st
Spanish-speaking New World whose development holds much of interest;
and which may occupy a more important part in coming years than is
generally thought of at present.

THE AUTHOR.

CONTENTS

PAGE
BIBLIOGRAPHY . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . xxi

INTRODUCTION BY MARTIN HUME. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . xxv

CHAPTER I
A FIRST RECONNAISSANCE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1

Romance of history--Two entrance ways--Vera Cruz--Orizaba--The Great
Plateau--Fortress of Ulua--Sierra Madre--Topographical structure--The
Gulf coast--Tropical region--Birds, animals, and vegetation of coast
zone--_Tierra caliente_--Malaria--Foothills--Romantic scenery--General
configuration of Mexico--Climatic zones--Temperate zone--Cold zone--The
Cordillera--Snow-capped peaks--Romance of mining--Devout miners--
Subterranean shrines--The great deserts--Sunset on the Great Plateau--
_Coyotes_ and _zopilotes_--Irrigated plantations--Railways--Plateau of
Anahuac--The cities of the _mesa central_--Spanish-American
civilisation--Romance of Mexican life--Mexican girls, music, and
moonlight--The _peones_ and civilisation--American comparisons--
Pleasing traits of the Mexicans--The foreigner in Mexico--Picturesque
mining-towns--Wealth of silver--Conditions of travel--Railways--
Invasions--Lerdo's axiom--Roads and horsemen--Strong religious
sentiment--Popocatepetl and Ixtaccihuatl--Sun-god of Teotihuacan--City
of Mexico--Valley of Mexico--The Sierra Madre--_Divortia aquarum_ of
the continent--Volcano of Colima--Forests and ravines--Cuernavaca--The
trail of Cortes--Acapulco--Romantic old _haciendas_--Tropic sunset--
Unexplored Guerrero--Perils and pleasures of the trail--Sunset in the
Pacific Ocean.

CHAPTER II
THE DAWN OF MEXICO: TOLTECS AND AZTECS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20

Lake Texcoco--Valley of Anahuac--Seat of the Aztec civilisation--
Snow-capped peaks--Pyramids of Teotihuacan--Toltecs--The first
Aztecs--The eagle, cactus, and serpent--Aztec oracle and wanderings--
Tenochtitlan--Prehistoric American civilisations--Maya, Incas--Quito
and Peru--The dawn of history--The Toltec empire--Rise, _regime_,
fall--Quetzalcoatl--Otomies--Chichemecas--Nezahualcoyotl--Astlan--The
seven tribes and their wanderings--Mexican war-god--The Teocallis--
Human sacrifices--Prehistoric City of Mexico--The Causeways--Aztec
arts, kings, an