iature Nile of the Nazas. In this region scientific canal
construction has, of late years, been well carried out, but formerly
methods were very primitive. On one occasion I was riding with a
_hacendado_ friend over his estate, when we crossed the bed of a
canal--dry and unused--which wound over the plain. "What is this?" I
asked. In reply he informed me that it had been designed to irrigate a
large tract of land, but the levels were wrong. In earlier times there
were no engineers in the region, and irrigation canals were made by the
primitive method of continually pouring water on the ground, or opening
a little furrow and letting it run, and then following its course with
the construction of the canal! This had been done, but for some reason
an error had been made at the starting-point, and the whole work
rendered useless. In justice to this primitive method of
canal-levelling it must be stated that successful aqueducts were
generally made, although naturally their course was often exceedingly
tortuous and much longer than would have been indicated by the
theodolite and level of the engineer.

In the tropical parts of Mexico water is also of great value at times
for the irrigation of sugar-cane, as important an industry as cotton,
and long lines of canal are constructed for this purpose, but under
greater difficulties, due to the broken nature of the ground.
Conditions of this nature are found in the State of Morelos, on the
Pacific slope, where I stayed for a period, and great tracts of rich
soil are irrigated for cane, and are exceedingly profitable. In the
future a vigorous and scientific development of irrigation will greatly
increase the agricultural wealth of the country in all its sections.
Agriculture on a large scale is very profitable, and the owners of
_haciendas_ are generally men of wealth and position.

A Mexican country house, or _hacienda_, is often a picturesque and
interesting habitation. It is not, however--like such residences in
England--only a dwelling-place and home, but is at the same time a
centre of industry. Surrounding it are great plantations of sugar-cane,
cotton, _maguey_, or other agricultural products which the particular
region may afford, and the great outbuildings comprise the warehouses,
machinery sheds, and indeed the whole plant for the treatment of the
product, whilst, near at hand, are the numerous huts of the _peones_,
or agricultural labourers, to whose work the cultivation