Government.--Mexico the Synonym of Barbarism.--Production and
Business Handicapped by an Excessive Tariff 23

CHAPTER III.

The Route to Mexico.--Via the Mammoth Cave.--Across the Rio
Grande.--A Large River.--Piedras Negras.--Characteristic Scene.
--A Barren Prairie Land.--Castano, a Native Village.--Adobe
Cabins.--Indian Irrigation.--Sparsely Populated Country.--
Interior Haciendas.--Immigration.--City of Saltillo.--Battle
of Buena Vista.--City of Monterey.--The Cacti and Yucca-Palm.
--Capture by General Taylor.--Mexican Central Railroad.--
Jack-Rabbits.--A Dreary Region.--The Mesquite Bushes.--Lonely
Graves 43

CHAPTER IV.

Zacatecas.--Sand-Spouts.--Fertile Lands.--A Silver Mining Region.
--Alpine Scenery.--Table-Land of Mexico.--An Aged Miner.--
Zacatecas Cathedral.--Church and People.--A Mountain Climb.--
Ownership of the Mines.--Want of Drainage.--A Battlefield.--
Civil War.--Local Market.--Peculiar Scenes.--Native Beauties.
--City Tramway Experience.--Town of Guadalupe.--Organized
Beggars.--A Noble and Successful Institution.--Market of
Guadalupe.--Attractive Senoritas.--Private Gardens 62

CHAPTER V.

A Mexican Watering Place.--Delightful Climate.--Aguas Calientes.
--Young Senoritas.--Local City Scenes.--Convicts.--Churches.
--A Mummified Monk.--Punishment is Swift and Sure.--Hot
Springs.--Bathing in Public.--Caged Songsters.--"Antiquities."
--Delicious Fruits.--Market Scenes.--San Luis Potosi.--The
Public Buildings.--City of Leon.--A Beautiful Plaza.--Local
Manufactories.--Home Industries of Leon.--The City of Silao.
--Defective Agriculture.--Objection to Machinery.--Fierce
Sand Storm 76

CHAPTER VI.

Guanajuato.--An Ex-President.--Richest Silver Mine in Mexico.--
Reducing the Ores.--Plenty of Silver.--Open Sewers.--A Venal
Priesthood.--A Big Prison.--The Catholic Church.--Getting Rid
of a Prisoner.--The Frog-Rock.--Idolaters.--A Strawberry
Festival at Irapuato.--Salamanca.--City of Queretaro.--A Fine
Old Capital.--Maximilian and His Fate.--A Charming Plaza.--
Mammoth Cotton Factory.--The Maguey Plant.--Pulque and Other
Stimulants.--Beautiful Op