of water from the mountain streams, and affords the
necessary article in the dry season. Along either side of these
reservoirs, for there is a succession of them, are situated the
pleasantest residences. These are so charmingly adapted to the locality,
and depart so far from the conventional Mexican style, as to cause one
to think some American or English architect had been exercising his
skill and taste in the neighborhood. They recalled some of the lovely
villas one sees near Sorrento and along the shores of the Bay of Amalfi,
in southern Italy.

The spacious and ancient structure known as the Alhondiga de Granaditas,
situated on elevated ground, dominates the whole city. It was erected a
century and more ago, and designed for a commercial exchange, but it has
since been greatly altered, and served as a fortification in the civil
wars. It is to-day occupied for the purposes of a prison, where convicts
are judiciously taught various mechanical trades. The view from the
summit of this rude old building takes in the town, the long, narrow
gulch, the gray and rugged hills which reach upward towards the deep
blue sky, dotted here and there by the yellow dome of some ancient
church, and an occasional cypress or graceful palm striving to redeem
the surrounding barrenness. In the prison yard, where the convicts seem
to be permitted to roam at their own pleasure, hens, chickens, and
turkeys were seen dodging in and out among the feet of the prisoners,
with whom they were apparently on the best of terms.

One could not but think that a large number of these prisoners were
probably better off as to creature comforts than when at liberty and
following their own behests. They eat, sleep, and work together at light
occupations, and no attempt is made to keep them from communicating
with each other. They have good air, light, and better food on the
average than they have been accustomed to when providing for themselves,
and they are allowed to keep a part of their own earnings. They are
permitted good bathing facilities, and to play checkers or any other
small games during their off hours, as they term the portions of the day
in which discipline requires no regular service of them. We became
interested in the case of an intelligent American who was held as a
prisoner here. He had been confined for nearly two years without a
trial, for which he was earnestly begging. The charge against him was
that he had been connected with some M