, and which are characteristic of the great
plateau of Anahuac in the north. Cold and bracing in the mountains, the
climate is temperate upon the high plains, and very hot in the low
valleys; whilst the rainfall is variable.

The state is well served with railways, which largely account for its
prosperity. The great trunk lines which traverse it unite it with the
railway system of the United States, the ports of the coast of the Gulf
of Mexico, and with the capital of the Republic. These main lines are,
respectively, the International, the Mexican Central, the National, and
the Monterrey and Gulf. There are in addition various smaller systems.

The capital city of the state, Monterrey, is the fourth in point of
commercial importance and population in the Republic. It contains
handsome buildings and numerous hotels, and its proximity to the United
States has had a considerable influence on its development.

[Illustration: GENERAL VIEW OF THE CITY OF MONTERREY, STATE OF NUEVO
LEON, UPON THE GREAT PLATEAU.]

Among the state's main resources are its mineral deposits, in which
coal and iron are important. The smelters and steel works at Monterrey,
elsewhere mentioned in the chapter on mining, are among the most
important in the country. Agriculture comes second; the extensive
forests afford a remarkable variety of timber--pine, ebony, walnut,
cedar, and others; whilst cattle-raising is a growing industry. And the
textile industry is well represented, as is brewing and distilling. In
brief, the state is an example of a prosperous and growing Mexican
community, largely supplying its own wants in raw material and
manufactured articles.

Durango lies upon the great plateau, but an imposing Cordillera--the
Western Sierra Madre--bounds and crosses it on the west, shutting off
the State of Sinaloa and the Pacific Ocean. North and east great barren
sun-beat plains stretch their verdureless wastes, intersected by ranges
of sterile hills, both extending into the neighbouring States of
Chihuahua and Coahuila. Here in former times the savage Indians roamed.
But before entering upon these plains we have traversed the fertile
country upon the eastern slope of the Western Sierra, watered by the
various rivers which descend therefrom--pleasing landscape and fertile
soil.

The area of the state is 43,750 square miles, and its population
380,000. The city of Durango, one of the foremost of the fine
Spanish-built cities of the Mexican t