and
towers of Vera Cruz, a dream-city, as beheld from the Gulf, of interest
and beauty; and to the west, are the broad coastal deserts, bounded by
the foothills and tropic valleys of the _tierra caliente_ of the
littoral. Piled up to the horizon are the wooded slopes and canyons of
the great Sierra Madre, topped by the gleaming Orizaba, towering
upwards in solitary majesty. We stand upon a torrid strand, yet gaze
upon an icy mountain.

[Footnote 1: Orizaba, 18,250 feet altitude.]

A country of singular topographic structure is before us. The Mexican
Cordillera conceals, beyond and above it, the famous Great Plateau; the
_mesa central_, running to the northwards eight hundred miles or more,
and reaching westwardly to the steep escarpments of the Pacific slope.
These plutonic and volcanic ranges encircle and bisect the great
tableland, and enclose the famous Valley of Mexico and its beautiful
capital, lying far beyond the horizon, above the clouds which rest upon
the canyons and terraces of that steep-rising country to the west. Our
journey lies upwards to this Great Plateau of Anahuac over the
intervening plains and mountain range.

It is a tropical region of foliage, flowers, and fruits, of rugged
countryside and rushing streams, this eastern slope of Mexico; and the
blue sky and flashing sun form the ambient of a perpetual summer-land.
We traverse the sandy Tertiary deserts of the coast, and thence enter
among groves of profuse natural vegetation, interspersed with
cultivated plantations. In these the gleam of yellow oranges comes from
among the foliage, and the graceful leaves of the platanos and
rubber-trees fan their protecting shade over young coffee-trees. But
away from the haunts of man along the littoral is a region of startling
beauty--of rivers and lagoons and hills, their shores and slopes
garmented with perennial verdure, the forest-seas bathing the bases of
towering peaks. Beautiful birds of variegated and rainbow colours, such
as Mexico is famous for, people these tropic southern lands of Vera
Cruz. Along the shores and in the woods and groves, all teeming with
prolific life, which the hot sun and frequent rains induce, the giant
cranes and brilliant-plumaged herons disport themselves, and gorgeous
butterflies almost outshine the feathered denizens. From the tangled
boughs the pendant boa-constrictor coils himself, and hissing serpents,
basking crocodiles, and prowling jaguars people the untrodden wilds