us rivers, and the state may be considered
more freely endowed with water-courses than any other in the Republic.
Among the first of these is the great River Fuerte, with a large volume
of water: and with ten other important streams it rises amid the snow
and rain of the Sierra, flowing thence through fertile valleys to the
Pacific Ocean.

The climate of Sinaloa is good; in the upper regions excellent. The
coast zone is hot during the dry season, and here, in places, the
malaria found on the coast of both North and South America is
encountered at times. The principal agricultural products are sugar and
cotton, and these are followed by the numerous fruits, vegetables,
fibres, timber, and other matters common to these rich zones, at their
respective elevations, including coffee and the cocoanut trees. Cattle
and horse-breeding flourishes under the favourable conditions the
region affords for this industry. Wild game is freely encountered, as
pheasants, quail, and other birds, deer, &c. The cost of living is low,
the soil fertile, and labour cheap, conditions which seem to promise
growing prosperity. The mineral resources include copper, gold, silver,
and other metals.

The remarkable resources of this favoured part of the country have
largely remained fallow due to the lack of railways. No lines yet
connect the state with the rest of the community. Recently, available
passes over the Sierra which isolate the state from the railway system
of the Republic, have been brought into notice, and capitalists,
principally American, are engaged upon projects to build lines to the
coast, traversing the state, among them being the Mexican Central
Railway.

The capital city of Sinaloa is Culiacan; and the principal that of
Mazatlan, the handsome and flourishing seaport, which awaits the coming
of a railway. Probably a busy future awaits the development of this
state.

The Territory of Tepic, formerly part of the State of Jalisco to the
south, is the next of the Pacific littoral states. This small region
was separated from Jalisco in 1884, on account of long rebellion
against the Federal Government, and it remains as a Federal Territory,
and not a state. Its coast-line is 155 miles long; its area is 10,950
square miles, and population 150,000. The climate is very hot on the
coast zone and temperate in the hills. Several rivers and streams flow
through it from the Sierra, some of which are navigable for short
distances from its m