Tarasc dialect, especially on the lake, which is two and a half miles from the town.
The picturesque Lake of Pátzcuaro is about thirty miles in circumference. Its shape is irregular, the greatest length being about thirteen miles from northeast to southwest. There are five small islands in the lake, bearing the names of Xanicho, Pacanda, Xaracuaro, Yuguan, and Tecuen. The first one is inhabited. The view from the hills near the town, of the lake surrounded by densely timbered mountains, and with the surface dotted by islets, and the white houses on the side of Xanicho, is beautiful beyond description. It reminds the traveler of the famous Lago Maggiore. Among other writers who have remarked upon the beauty of the landscape are Madame Calderon de la Barca and Baron von Humboldt. A recent English author of a book on Mexico states, that the former has published to the world the most entertaining work ever written on the land of the Aztecs.
The Indians living on the Lake of Pátzcuaro very closely resemble the Pueblos of New Mexico and Arizona. The tourist can visit the islands in one of their “dug-out" pine canoes (canoas). Paddles with circular blades are used in the canoes by both women and men.
Perhaps no spot in the country deserves the name of "primitive Mexico" better than Lake Pátzcuaro.
Several excursions may be made from Pátzcuaro. The most convenient one is to Uruapan, forty-seven miles by trail to the southwest. There are two small hotels and a cotton-factory in Uruapan. The cotton is of excellent quality, and is brought from the west (Acapulco) coast by pack-mules. Much pottery is made here, and the town lies in the midst of a coffee and sugar growing district. The coffee of Michoacan is generally considered to be the best in Mexico, with the single exception of that from Colima. An arroba of coffee (25 pounds) costs $3 at Urua-
