The slag piles in the foreground and the distance cover several acres. These piles are said to be of considerable value because of the large amount of mineral which the original process failed to extract (see page 577). The Mexican Central Railroad crosses a corner of this estate at some distance south of Torreon. The station of Camacho, a sun-scorched and wind-swept row of adobe structures, is upon the hacienda, and eastward, over a distant range of mountains, lies the village of Cedros, the capital of this principality. Some 60 miles intervene, however, and to visit it one must proceed thither by horseback or wagon. Cedros lies on the high border of a plain that reaches leagues long and wide. to the west, north, and south. Eastward rises the range of the Potrero. On the horizon to the northeast are the furrowed slopes of the Zuloagas and to the west and southwest the Sierras de Zapoca and Guadalupe. Thirty miles to the west the Zapocas rise as a mountain barrier along the whole horizon. ENTRANCE TO CEDROS Entering the hacienda from the east, this splendid panorama is gradually unfolded to view. When the afternoon sun is low and shadows are mounting the slopes, the slanting rays sweep the wide expanse with a glow of changing color. Rising out of the mountain chain, high above its fellows, stands a lofty peak, with its rugged crest outlined against the glowing sky. Clouds that rest upon it are tinged with gold and crimson and all the brilliant colors of a sunset such as no other land knows. This eminence, known as Pico Teirra, commands the whole of the surrounding country. Dark and rugged to its summit, which lies above 10,000 feet, its somber shadows are deepened by the thin growth of oaks and pines which clothe its higher slopes. As the morning light strikes across the landscape, the watcher at Cedros may catch the glimmer of white at the base of Teirra, making faintly visible the hamlet of San Rafael. Half way to the peak across the intervening plain two small mountains stand as detached members of a lesser range at its southern extremity. Here a few dwellings comprise the village of Tecolotes, which, with a fortified inclosure and a water reservoir, marks a 566 THE NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC MAGAZINE Many small assemblages of huts or houses are scattered over the place and are the homes of small ranchers or herdsmen. In all, about 2,000 people live upon the Hacienda de Cedros. These are distributed about in small groups here and there, where springs may be found or wells dug, or where the configuration of the land makes possible the gathering of the rainfall into reservoirs. Water is precious, and its relative abundance determines the size of the village and often the nature of its operations. Issuing from the limestone at the western end of the Potreros are a number of fine springs, some warm and others cold, providing for irrigation of the gardens, for the baths, and for household uses. Some supply the long, stone troughs where the herds come to drink. About these springs has grown up the little town of Cedros, and the cottonwoods have grown with it, until across the country their spreading tops are visible afar and almost obscure the white walls of the buildings they overshadow. It is a rare oasis in a wide desert, and grateful shade here beckons the traveler to its restful shelter. pected now, the place is still well adapted to withstand a siege of small arms. The defenses here have somewhat fallen to decay; but at outlying stations some are yet well preserved, as where Cañada Blanca, with wall and battlement, furnishes a place of refuge in the grazing country two days' journey to the west. The village of Cedros consists of the casa grande, or manor house, with its associated structures, and the church, the dwellings of the peons, a rope-walk (see pages 574 and 575), an old smelter (see page 565) and ore mills, and corrals. Aside from the casa grande and its grounds, the village does not cover more than the space of three or four city blocks. HOMES OF THE PEONS The homes of peons are either huddled in groups or scattered about the outskirts, and, though mostly permanent structures built of adobe, they are arranged in no definite order, but are set up wherever chance or the convenience of the builder dictated. Many of the dwellings have small adjoining inclosures formed by a paling constructed of the wand-like branches of the candlewood, serving for garden lots or corrals. Cheer and comfort are scarcely known to the peons' habitations. They are usually without the luxury of windows, the door serving to admit all the light that enters. The poorer huts have merely a hole in the wall as a means of entrance and exit; sometimes a room adjoining has no exterior opening, but is reached by a hole in the partition. In these hovels some live, begrimed and hungry, in hopeless poverty. Others of the dwellings are much better. Such may boast some coarse matting and rude home-made furniture and decorations of colored picture-cards and tinsel. In these the dwellers have some regard for cleanliness and a measure of self-respect. The old church near the center of the village rises prominently above the surrounding structures. Standing upon an eminence, it gives prospect of the country far and near, and is itself first beheld by the approaching traveler. Its portal, shaded by graceful pepper trees, looks The palma from which fiber is obtained. "This estate, the Hacienda of the Cedars, is 70 miles long by 60 wide, a domain about equal in area to the State of Connecticut. Although much smaller than some of the other haciendas, it nevertheless constitutes a considerable property, being 22 million acres in extent. From center to circumference is a day's journey or more, and the proprietor, when he visits the outlying portions of his estate, prepares for a journey of days or weeks with coach-and-six and attendants and much of the air of a petty ruler" (see text, page 563). out upon the little plaza, witness of its people's life, at work or play. Rugged in its strength and severe in its architectural simplicity, it stands a refuge, spiritual and temporal. The arched and cemented roof, walled round by a crumbling parapet, the loopholes of which still show, is reached by a flight of steep and narrow steps leading up on the outside. The walls of stone, 4 feet in thickness, are pierced by deep embrasured windows, which, being few and small, light but dimly the appropriately decorated interior. Guarding the entrance to this sanctuary are ponderous doors, whose mortised timbers are studded with huge wrought nails having heads the size of one's palm. Through the center of the yard a walk of flat stones leads up to the door, where the hollow-worn threshold speaks of the generations of devout people who have come and gone these 200 years. Within a large mural painting depicts the life and death of the martyred priest who long ago ministered to the charcoal-burners at Mazapil. Protesting against the oppression of these poor people, who then were slaves at the hands of their Spanish taskmasters, he aroused the anger of those whose greed he sought to check and lost his life at the hands of hired assassins. THE MANOR HOUSE Across the open plaza stands the casa grande. This relic of manorial pretensions of more prosperous days, with the buildings adjoining and appertaining to On the left the peons' quarters, on the right the garden wall. "The homes of peons are either huddled in groups or scattered about the outskirts, and, though mostly permanent structures built of adobe, they are arranged in no definite order, but are set up wherever chance or the convenience of the builder dictated" (see text, page 566). it, rambles over several acres of ground. Its front elevation, like that of many other mansions of the land, is innocent of any suggestion of artistic effort, and rises a plain, white-washed wall, broken only by the deep-set and securely grated windows and the heavy doors. It rises 30 feet to the parapet, providing two stories in the main building, though its adjoining structures have but one. Before recent improvements substituted a stronger wall for the old parapet, loopholes were still visible here and there. The doors of the main entrance, like those of the church, are ponderously built of hewn timbers and, being barred, offer effectual resistance to any seeking entrance by force. There seem to be no available records of the building of this house. A date legible upon one of the beams within is 1731, which appears to be the date of certain repairs. The building, however, in essential respects seems as good as when first built. The lower walls are nearly 4 feet in diameter, though 2 feet, the usual thickness of adobe walls, afford ample protection against the burning heat of summer. Notwithstanding the prejudice which might naturally arise against sun-dried brick as a desirable or durable building material, they have been immensely useful in many forms of construction over a large part of the North American continent. They came extensively into service, probably, through the force of necessity, where other materials were scarce or difficult to work, but they have abundantly demonstrated their usefulness. It would be difficult to imagine houses better adapted to the hot, dry climate of the plateau than the adobe, properly constructed, which, when well finished, is clean and may be even beautiful in design. A MEXICAN HACIENDA A PRETENTIOUS HOME 569 huerta, or garden. Off this corridor rooms open to the right and left, but, as none of these are of special interest, attention may now be turned to the kitchen, entrance to which may be gained from the patio. This room, 20 feet square, is Entering the mansion by the main door, a portal large enough to admit a load of hay, one finds himself in a tunnel-like passage leading through to the inner court, or patio. On either side of this passage are doors, and farther on a stair-lighted during the day through the open way leads to the upper rooms, though originally they were reached through a trap-door by means of a ladder, which was drawn up at night. The patio itself, some 60 or 70 feet square, is designed on the simple lines of some of the more primitive and isolated places, and from this court, after the usual fashion, doors open into various rooms. In the center of the patio a well furnishes water for the household, a flower bed occupies a cement basin of ample size, and a grape vine scrambles over an arbor of rude poles. Entering a door from the passageway, one finds himself in a large sala, or parlor, with tinted walls and tiled floor. The tiles, perhaps at one time level, are now uneven after nearly 200 years of use. They are about 8 inches square, hard and smooth of surface. Such formed the chief flooring material in this and other houses of the time. Hewn timbers extend from wall to wall, supporting the floor above. The origin of these and much larger timbers in the construction of the buildings is a matter of some conjecture. Although it is reported that originally a cedar grove of considerable size grew here about the springs, there is at present no evidence that such a stand of timber formerly existed, except the few aged and decrepit junipers scattered along the feeble watercourses. MUNITIONS OF WAR A smaller room opening off the sala is an arsenal. Rows of Winchesters are stacked along the wall, some of recent, others of older, models; also some ancient muzzle-loading pieces of ponderous weight. Revolvers and pistols of ancient pattern complete the assortment, along with a small supply of drugs and medicines. Passing out at the other end of the sala, one enters a corridor, at the far end of which glazed doors give access to the door. In the center of the room was originally a circular, altar-like structure of stone or adobe, 6 feet across, from which arose a huge conical chimney, supported by several legs forming the sides of as many arches. Upon this bench, prior to the advent of the modern range, cooking was done by the open fire. From the kitchen food was carried by an out-ofdoor route to the dining-room, there being no connecting passage. Adjoining the main building a long row of lower structures flanks the plaza. Among the several doors along this row two are noteworthy-one gives entrance to the jail, the other to the wine cellar. The juxtaposition of these two institutions probably was not meant to convey any idea of their logical association, but that one of these sometimes contributed to the other there can be no doubt. A GREAT WINE CELLAR The commodious vault of the wine cellar is reached through several outer rooms containing the various appurtenances concerned with the manufacture of wine. Huge fermenting vats built of adobe and lined with cement, each capable of holding several cartloads of grapes, stand close by the press in one of the outer rooms, and in another a still was built close by the steps which lead under a high and heavy archway down to the cellar. The cellar itself, about 100 by 40 feet, is divided lengthwise by supporting arches of the same masonry which figures in the construction of all the buildings. Along the walls stand rows of huge casks, most of them now empty, but some containing a few gallons of the more recent vintages. Midway of the cellar a well reaches down to a flowing spring, whence water was drawn for uses in connection with the winery. As indicated above, not only fermented, but also distiled, liquors were manufactured here, |