continuation of the Gila range in Arizona and Nueva
Leon. But what a difference in the climate and scenery! There arid
rocks and thorny ravines; here dense mountain forests, deep rivers,
a saturated atmosphere, and springs on almost every acre of ground.
The very brambles in the rock-clefts were fresh with dew, and the
sprouts of the broom-furze looked like wildering asparagus. The ravines
flamed with flowers of every size and every hue. An agent of a London
or Hamburg curiosity-dealer might make his living here with a common
butterfly-net. On any sunny forenoon an active boy could gather a
stock of Lepidoptera that would create a bonanza sensation among the
collectors of a North European capital. The rhododendron thickets of
the upper Rio Verde are frequented by gigantic varieties of nymphalis,
vanessa, and parnassius, which would retail in Brussels at from two to
ten dollars apiece.

The sun rose higher, but not the thermometer, and when we clambered up
through an orchard of scattered cherry-trees I am sure that the maximum
temperature in the shade did not exceed sixty-five degrees Fahrenheit.
We had reached the Llanos Ventosos, the air-plains of San Miguel, the
playground of the four winds of heaven, where sun-strokes are unknown,
though the mists of the rainy season never cloud their deep-blue sky.
Down in the coast jungles the Rain-fiend was at it again: dark-gray
showers swept visibly along the shore, while the foot-hills simmered
under the rays of a vertical sun. But up here the air was dry as well as
cool; the edge of the plateau is at least six thousand feet above the
level of the Pacific, which is in plain view from Punta Piedra to the
downs of Tehuantepec.

We entered the village about two P.M., and my companions conducted me
to a little frame house, where I was hospitably received by the Indian
gardener and the daughters of Pastor Wenck, the minister of the
Protestant part of the community, whose brother in Tehuantepec had
intrusted me with different letters, with a note of introduction. The
pastor had harnessed his mule an hour ago to get a load of Spanish moss
from the foot-hills, so I left my carrier in charge of the Indian
gardener and sauntered out into the village.

Neubern (New Bern) de San Miguel--or Villa Cresciente, as it was
originally called, from its situation on a crescent-shaped bluff--was
founded in 1865 under the happiest auspices, the charter of the colony
including such inducements as