“Las Madres,” says the Mexican, whenever he is asked the name of the lofty range of mountains that runs through the western part of the northern half of Mexico, and which separate the lofty interior plateaus from the Pacific Ocean and the Gulf of California. This range of mountains effectually cuts off the west coast from the best developed part of Mexico, and for that reason this section is not so well known as those parts which are visited by travellers. At the present time no railway has been completed across this range of mountains, but it will not be long until this disadvantage will exist no longer. This district includes the great states of Sonora and Sinaloa, the territory of Tepic, and a large part of the states of Chihuahua and Durango. To-day it is almost a counterpart of what California was before the gold rush of 1849—little known, isolated and undeveloped—but with just as great natural advantages. Dense jungles cover the lower levels along the coast, where water is plentiful, while great areas in the north are semi-arid. In the higher altitudes vast forests of pine and oak crown the serrated peaks. The population is generally sparse and scattered. In the future the main gateways to reach this part of the country from the United States will be El Paso, and Benson, Arizona. From El Paso it is a distance of a little more than two hundred miles to Chihuahua. The traveller has no sooner crossed the Rio Grande than the change is seen in the Mexican town of Ciudad Juarez, formerly Paso del Norte. This city was the objective point of the revolutionists in the late trouble in that country, and was the scene of a great deal of fighting before it was finally captured. After its capture it was the seat of the temporary government of the Maderistas. For several hours on the journey southward there is nothing to be seen but the chaparral and desolate-looking hills, with just enough novelty in the little towns that may be passed to make the trip strange and rather old-fashioned. Big-hatted, shiftless peons stare at you from their leaning positions against the station walls. The “hee-haw” of a lone burro or the “cough” of a gasoline engine will be the only sounds to break the silence.