correct idea of the topography of Toluca and environs by walking up the hill on the southwestern side of the city. It is not more than fifteen minutes' walk from the principal hotels.
A pleasant excursion may be made to the Nevado de Toluca (15,156 feet high). This mountain is always snow-clad, but in winter it is covered with snow for about one third of the way down from the summit. There is a ranch on the ridge, just below the timber-line, where the traveler can pass the night. A very extensive view may be obtained from the top of the volcano. On a clear day the Pacific Ocean, one hundred and sixty miles distant, is visible; and it is said that the Gulf of Mexico can even be seen with a powerful field-glass. Baron von Humboldt ascended the peak of Toluca on the 29th of September, 1803, and measured the height of the mountain by the barometer. He states that the highest point, the Pico del Fraile, is difficult of ascent, and the very top is scarcely ten feet wide.[1] Humboldt found the rock to be a combination of oligoclase and hornblende (diorite). Two entire days will be required to climb the Nevado de Toluca—i. e., from the city of Toluca and back. The traveler should take provisions, blankets, guides, and horses sufficient for the journey.
2. From Toluca to Maravatio, 150 kilometres, or 93 miles. Time, 7 hours.
Leaving Toluca, the road continues due west along the broad valley. Much wheat is grown in the vicinity. One farmer sold seventy-seven thousand dollars' worth last year (1882). The next station is Del Rio (97 kilometres). The railway-station is in a freight-car on a siding.
The line soon winds along the bank of the Rio Lerma, with bluffs of a clayey limestone on one side. We pass through the tunnel of Ixtlahuaca, and reach the station of
- ↑ See Cosmos, vol. v, p. 376.
