about the trunk like a two-inch
hawser, and slowly strangles the stout, columnar tree. Finally the
original trunk will die and fall to the ground, leaving the once small
vine to grow and fatten upon its decay until it shall rival in size the
trunk it has displaced. This is a sight common in tropical regions, and
often observed in the forests of New Zealand, where the author has seen
trees two and three feet in diameter yielding their lives to the fatal
embrace of these parasites.

We descend rapidly; down, down, rushes the train, impelled by its own
impetus, approaching the town first on one side, then on the other,
until we stop at a huge elevated tank, rivaling the famous tun of
Heidelberg in size, to water the thirsty engine. Here, and at most of
the stations along the route, boys and girls offer the travelers
tropical fruits in great variety at merely nominal prices, including
large, yellow pineapples, zapotas, mameys, pomegranates, citrons, limes,
oranges, and the like. Large, ripe oranges are sold two for a penny. One
timid, half-clad, pretty young girl of native blood held up to us
diffidently a bunch of white, fragrant orange blossoms which were
eagerly secured and enjoyed, the child could not know how much. Other
Indians brought roses and various orchids, splendidly developed, which
they sold for a _real_ (twelve cents) each, with the roots bound up in
broad green leaves. Doyle or Galvin would charge ten dollars apiece for
such in Boston. Some of them had marvellous scarlet centres, eccentric
in shape but very beautiful. As to color, there were blue, green,
scarlet, yellow, and purple specimens among them.

Still winding in and out among the mountains, our ears frequently
greeted by the music of tumbling waters, we finally arrive at Orizaba,
in the State of Vera Cruz. The capital of this state was formerly
Jalapa, but it is now Orizaba, which is named after the grand old
mountain whose base is about twenty-five miles away. The State of Vera
Cruz contains something over half a million of inhabitants. Few places
in Mexico have a more fascinating site, or are surrounded by more lovely
scenery. We are here eighty miles from Vera Cruz, and one hundred and
eighty from the city of Mexico. Orizaba, having a little over twenty
thousand inhabitants, is in many respects the quaintest, as it is one of
the oldest, cities in the country. Most of the dwellings are but one
story in height, built with broad, overhanging eaves