n the
tableland for the making of _pulque_, Hidalgo alone having 129
_haciendas_ devoted to this industry. In some portions of these states
the scenery is wild and picturesque in the extreme, varying from the
soft and undulating to the stupendous. The rivers generally belong to
the Atlantic watershed, flowing through the Eastern Sierra Madre to the
Gulf of Mexico, debouching at Tampico as the great Panuco river.

The State of Guanajuato, with an area of about 11,000 square miles,
supports one of the largest of populations of any state, reaching to
1,065,000 inhabitants, and this is increasing, due to the growing
industries of the region. Queretaro, with an area and population of
4,500 square miles and 235,000 inhabitants, is one of the smallest of
the states. Its capital city, of the same name, is of much interest
historically, for here Maximilian fell. Some important industries are
carried on, among them being the largest textile factory in the
Republic, the great "Hercules" mills. The famous "Doctor" mine, vast
producer in past history, is one of the remarkable features of this
state, whilst in the adjoining state of Hidalgo are the great mines and
ore-treating _haciendas_ near the capital city, Pachuca. Real del Monte
with its remarkable metallurgical achievements is a byeword in the
annals of silver. Cold and cloudy, these high regions--Pachuca is 8,000
feet above the level of the sea--are in marked contrast to the warm
valleys which, below the belt of oak and pines upon the mountain
slopes, are reached in our downward journey. The area of this very
diversified state is 85,900 square miles, and its population some
605,000 souls. The Mexican Central and National Railways serve these
three states.

The State of Mexico comprises a rich and interesting region. It is the
seat of the capital, the famous City of Mexico. With the little
adjoining State of Tlaxcala it was the home of the Aztec and other
republics or oligarchies of prehispanic days. Here is the classic lake
of Texcoco, and on the south of the valley the famous peaks which rise
beyond the perpetual snow-line--Popocatepetl, Ixtaccihuatl, and the
Nevado of Toluca--rear their gleaming crests. In this region Nature has
been profuse with her resources--a rich and varied _flora_ and
astonishing wealth of gold and silver. Here the mines of El Oro give up
a stream of gold to foreign pockets--principally British--the result of
Anglo-Saxon enterprise of recent years.