The town itself is not visible until the traveller approaches within a mile and a half, when it is seen below following the turns of a deep barranca or ravine, of which the mountain of la Bufa, with a chapel on its crest, forms one side. The streets are narrow and dirty, and swarm with uncleanly children, whose appearance, like that of their squalid parents, is by no means prepossessing. But the distant view of the city is picturesque from the number of religious edifices which rise above the roofs of the other buildings. In the vicinity of the plaza there are some fine houses, and the market place presents a curious and busy provincial scene.
Aguas Calientes is situated upon the banks of a stream of the same name, in a broad and rich valley, at the distance of 25 leagues south of Zacatécas. The neighborhood is famous for its warm thermal springs; the chief of which, El Baño de la Cantera, lies a league south-west of the town. Aguas Calientes contains several thousand inhabitants and is celebrated for its woollen manufactories, among which the one belonging to the family of Pimentel employed about 350 men and women at its looms.
Fresnillo is a mining town, and capital of its district, 14 leagues north-west from Zacatécas, in the wide plain which divides the mountains of Santa Cruz and Organos from the mountain ranges about Zacatécas. It lies at the foot of the isolated knoll of Proaño, in which its mines are situated. The neighborhood of the town is pretty, but the region which intervenes between it and Sombrereté is a waste and sterile moorland.
Sombrereté; is a mining town, and capital of its district, 25 leagues north-westward of Fresnillo, lying at the foot of the mountain of Sombreretillo, or " little hat," whose name is derived from a singular formation of rock on its summit which resembles that article of dress. In its vicinity are the once renowned and rich mines of La Veta Negra and El Pavellon.
Upon the table lands between Sombrereté, Fresnillo, and Catorcé, in the State of San Luis, are several towns or villages deserving of notice, and the hacienda of Sierra Hermosa, a cattle estate, which is one of the most remarkable in the Republic for its extent and production. It covers an area of 262 sitios or square leagues, and supports immense herds of horned cattle, horses, mules, goats and sheep. The latter, alone, are estimated at 200,000 head, about 30,000 of which are annually disposed of. The wool yielded by these animals amounts to from 4,000 to 5,000 arrobas yearly.
The other towns and villages of note are Asientos de Ibarra, Xeres, Villanueva, Mazapil.
