This horn is about 150 miles wide at the bottom, or tip, and
1550 miles wide at its beginning, where it joins on to us. In its curve
it embraces the Gulf of Mexico, and the Pacific Ocean washes its other
side.
It is true that Mexico is not thickly settled, the total population
being less than 12,000,000; but it has one city--the capital--containing
300,000, one of 100,000, and a number of cities of 25,000 inhabitants,
of which the ordinary American never heard the names. But Mexico has an
incomparable climate, and the land contains riches in minerals, precious
stones and agricultural resources, unsurpassed by any other country.
Mexico is a land of different civilization from ours, and we know very
little about it. The ruling classes, numbering a few thousands, are
descendants of Spaniards, while the millions of people who are ruled are
descendants of the Aztecs. They are called Indians, but they have
nothing in common with our aborigines. They speak Spanish, but they have
their own tongues as well, and there are said to be a hundred dialects
in use. Some of the most striking men in Mexican history have come from
this class.
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