Through the Land of the Aztecs

This historic book may have numerous typos and missing text. Purchasers can download a free scanned copy of the original book (without typos) from the publisher. Not indexed. Not illustrated. 1892 Excerpt: ...Mining appeared to be the only topic of conversation. All day long trains of mules and donkeys filed along the streets laden with mineral. Zacatecas boasts of a fine plaza and a handsome old church, the interior of which is very fine. There are several good stores, and a considerable commerce is carried on. The population is about 50,000, the greater part of which are miners. The town stands much higher than Mexico City; owing to its elevation and its northern position, the winter, which in the capital cannot be said to exist, is felt pretty severely here, especially during tbe ' Northers.' The market-place of Zacatecas is well worth a visit on an early morning, when it is always crowded, the stalls and ground heaped with satin-skinned tomatoes, plump water-melons of prodigious size, wrinkled peanuts, luscious grapes, bright red and green chilies, frijoles, maize, salt, &c., while the sellers stand or squat about, troubling themselves little whether people buy their produce or not. They did not forget to ask the ' Gringo' ten times the value of their goods, and listened to his ungrammatical expostulations with a perfectly unmoved countenance. We continued our journey to Lerdo, round which lies the great cotton-producing country of Northern Mexico. The scenery changed. The brown-stunted grass and straggling shrubs with an occasional nopal tree, which was the only vegetation to enliven the dusty region we had been traversing, gave place to a rich, refreshing green, brightened by little streams; the dry hot air became moist and balmy, and we were soon rolling through great fields of cotton. From the station, only a rough little jacal, or hut, was to be seen, where a knot of stragglers were squatting on their haunches, smoking cigarettes, or dozing in the s...