Monte has seventy-five of them. The ore is composed mainly of blackish silver sulphides. Several English companies have established themselves in Pachuca, and an American company has recently been organized to work the tailings of some of the older mines. It is highly probable that improved mining machinery will soon be used in this district. Compressed cakes of English coal are imported at the rate of $22 a ton! It is said that a valuable deposit of coal has lately been discovered in the vicinity. Excursions may easily be made from Pachuca to the adjoining mining town of Real del Monte (elevation, 9,057 feet), and to the town and cascade of Regla, and also to the village of El Chico.
Leaving Mexico, the road leads over a causeway, bordered with a row of poplars on either side, to the suburb of Tlalpam, about seven miles distant. A horse-car track runs parallel with the road. Thence the route turns to the southeast, and lies over a sandy region as far as the end of the valley of Mexico.
The lofty mountain of Ajusco is seen on the west, and the Lake of Xochimilco on the east. The diligence now begins to ascend the pass leading through the ridge which forms the southern boundary of the plateau of Anahuac. The roadway is smooth, and kept in good order as far as the summit, and the grade is moderate. As the stage-coach climbs the winding pass, the tourist soon obtains a beautiful view of the valley of Mexico, whose surface is dotted with various extinct volcanoes, and the several lakes that have already been mentioned. Picturesque villages are scattered over the oval-shaped plain.
Proceeding farther, the traveler enters a region cov-
