uebla is of much interest.

To the north, and of a somewhat different character as regards their
environment and population, are the cities along the Great Plateau,
especially those upon the mineral belt, although they bear the
inseparable stamp of the Spanish-American people and their life. Some
of these cities sprang to being upon the very flanks of the mountains
which give them their source of life--silver--centuries ago. Among
these great towns of the plateau, especially those whose wealth and
population have accrued from or depend upon the business of delving
into the earth for minerals, is Guanajuato, picturesquely situated
among the foothills of a mountain range known as the Sierra of Santa
Rosa. Its elevation above sea-level is 6,850 feet, and the dry, clear
atmosphere, bright hues of buildings and churches, sloping hills with
houses and gardens perforce terraced thereon, with the brilliant
sunlight overhead, form a characteristic Mexican centre of industry.
The houses of Guanajuato are built of a species of freestone, which as
a fine-grained tufa caps the Sierra in places here, and is known as
_cantera_. It is easily worked and hardens on weathering, and its use
gives a well-constructed appearance to the streets. I have noted the
same aspect in other Spanish-American countries, notably the Peruvian
city of Arequipa. According to the calculation of Humboldt, the great
_veta madre_, or "mother lode," of Guanajuato, had yielded, up to his
time, silver to the value of fifty-eight million pounds sterling; and,
indeed, it is to be recollected that, a century ago, Guanajuato was a
larger city than New York!

Of Zacatecas, Durango, San Luis Potosi, Aguascalientes, and others of
the numerous important cities and towns, linked together by the great
trunk lines of railway along the vast reaches of the _mesa central_, we
cannot speak save by name. Each has its peculiar circumstance and
interest, and the different States of which they form the political and
industrial centres are described in the chapter devoted thereto. We
will, however, take a momentary flight to the fine city of Chihuahua,
far to the north, situated among its great plains and mineral-bearing
mountain ranges. Among these vast deserts, now slowly yielding to
reclamation by the hand of civilised man, scorched by a merciless sun
by day and bitterly cold by night, which form this part of Mexico, the
savage Apaches formerly roamed--the abominable Apaches: the