eat zone of fertile land, crossed by various streams and rivers
of small hydrographic importance.

The coast-line of the Peninsula of Yucatan is more than 600 miles in
length, extending round three sides of the peninsula. The climate of
the eastern coast is rendered torrid by the heat of the Gulf Stream,
which sweeps between it and the island of Cuba. The principal port,
Progreso, is an open roadstead where no shelter is obtained, the old
abandoned port of Sisal being superior. Some score of miles off the
north-east coast is the island of Cozumel, where Cortes first landed on
his voyage of the Conquest. Yucatan contains the remarkable ruins of
the Maya civilisation--a field of great research. These splendid
remains of prehispanic architecture are of the utmost interest and
beauty, and have received much attention from famous archaeologists.
The great forests of the state, extending over a large area of
territory, are the _habitat_ of a varied fauna, including the panther,
the tapir, wild boars, boa constrictor, crocodile, and other ferocious
kinds, as well as deer, and a variety of bright-plumaged birds. Yucatan
is without minerals, its geological formation being of the younger
sedimentary rocks.

The Territory of Quintana Roo, before mentioned, was separated from
Yucatan, due to its long possession by the Maya Indian tribes, who,
however, have now been overcome, and are under peaceful control. The
population is only about 3,000. The topographical formation is similar
to that of Yucatan, great calcareous, undulating plains of recent
geological times. The climate is hot, tempered at times by the sea
breezes and the heavy rains. There are no streams, except the Hondo
river, flowing into British Honduras, but the land is watered to a
certain extent by the _cenotes_, as the rain-water deposits in the
calcareous rock are termed, which supposedly are connected with
subterranean streams. This territory is the home of the descendants of
the Mayas, some of the most intelligent of Mexico's aboriginal people
to-day, and they long resisted, and until a few years ago, the control
of the Mexican Government. The territory borders upon British
Honduras--Belize--and the supplying of arms by British traders to the
insurrectionary people a few years ago caused much trouble to the
Mexican Government and became the matter of diplomatic discussion. All
this is now duly settled, and the region is in a tranquil state.

The remarkable variet