crops annually are grown in various sections of
the _tierra templada_. Tobacco is indigenous in Mexico, and derives its
name from Tabaco in Yucatan. Indian corn and brown beans, two of the
principal sources of the food consumed by the natives, are grown in all
the states of the republic.

Mexico is situated in the same degree of latitude in the Western
Hemisphere that Egypt occupies in the Eastern, the Tropic of Cancer
dividing both countries in the centre. There is a striking resemblance
between them, also, in many other respects, such as architecture,
vegetation, domestic utensils, mode of cultivating the land, ancient
pyramids, and idols, while both afford abundant tokens of a history
antedating all accredited record. Toltec and Aztec antiquities bear a
remarkable resemblance to the old Egyptian remains to be found in the
museums of Europe and America. Speaking of these evidences of a former
and unknown race still to be found in southern Mexico, especially in
Yucatan, Wilson the historian says: "In their solidity they strikingly
remind us of the best productions of Egyptian art. Nor are they less
venerable in appearance than those which excite our admiration in the
valley of the Nile. Their points of resemblance, too, are so numerous,
they carry to the beholder a conviction that the architects on this side
of the ocean were familiar with the models on the other." Doubtless the
volcanic soil of Mexico conceals vast remains of the far past, even as
Pompeii was covered and continued unsuspected for centuries, until
accident led to its being gradually exhumed. Whole cities are known to
have disappeared in various parts of Mexico, leaving no more evidence of
their existence than may be found in a few broken columns or some
half-disintegrated stones. Of this mutability we shall have ample
evidence as we progress on our route through the several states. When in
various parts of the country we see the native laborers irrigating the
land in the style which prevailed thousands of years ago on the banks of
the Nile, and behold the dark-hued women slightly clothed in a white
cotton fabric with faces half-concealed, while they bear water jars upon
their heads, we seem to breathe the very atmosphere of Asia. The rapid
introduction of railroads and the modern facilities for travel are fast
rendering us as familiar with the characteristics of this land of the
Montezumas as we have long been with that of the Pharaohs; and though it