ty Scenes.--Convicts.--Churches.--A Mummified
Monk.--Punishment is Swift and Sure.--Hot Springs.--Bathing in
Public.--Caged Songsters.--"Antiquities."--Delicious Fruits.--Market
Scenes.--San Luis Potosi.--The Public Buildings.--City of Leon.--A
Beautiful Plaza.--Local Manufactories.--Home Industries of Leon.--
The City of Silao.--Defective Agriculture.--Objection to Machinery.
--Fierce Sand Storm.

Aguas Calientes (hot waters) is the capital of a small state of the same
name, and is a very strongly individualized city, containing something
less than twenty-five thousand inhabitants. The town is handsomely laid
out with great regularity, having a number of fine stone buildings,
luxuriant gardens, and beautiful public squares. It is situated
seventy-five miles south of Zacatecas, on the trunk line of the Mexican
Central Railroad. This route brings us down to the plain through rugged
steeps and sharp grades, near to the famous salt and soda lakes, where
the Rio Brazos Santiago is crossed. Though we say that Aguas Calientes
is on a plain, yet the town is over six thousand feet above sea level,
and is well situated for business growth in a fertile region where three
main thoroughfares already centre. It is just three hundred and
sixty-four miles northwest of the city of Mexico. The Plaza des Armas,
with its fine monumental column and its refreshing fountain, as well as
several other public gardens of the city, are worthy of special mention
for their striking floral beauty, their display of graceful palms and
various other tropical trees. It seemed as though it must be perpetual
spring here, and that every tree and bush was in bloom. The Mexican
flora cannot be surpassed for depth of rich coloring. Sweet peas,
camellias, poppies, and pansies abound, while oleanders grow to the
height of elm trees, and are covered with a profusion of scarlet and
white flowers. The day was very soft, sunny, and genial, when we
wandered over the ancient place; all the treetops lay asleep, and there
was scarcely a breath of air stirring. Every sight and every sound had
the charm of novelty. Groups of young senoritas strolled leisurely about
the town; their classic profiles, large gazelle-like eyes, rosy lips,
delicate hands and feet, together with their shapely forms, indicated
their mingled Spanish and Indian origin. The many sonorous bells of the
churches kept up a continuous peal at special morning and evening hours.