Mazatlan, a little further down the coast, is the largest city and principal port of Sinaloa. It is a picturesque place, with its cathedral spires outlined against the sky, and cocoanut palms and thatched roofs below. The blue Cordilleras in the distance complete the picture. A lighthouse at the north entrance is said to be the highest lighthouse in the world, with the exception of the one at Gibraltar. It is a city of about twenty thousand inhabitants, and the largest city on the Pacific coast. Although a great deal of shipping is done in Mazatlan, the harbour is poor and offers no protection to vessels. Plans have been approved for a safe harbour, to cost several million pesos, in order to prepare it for the anticipated increase in business. Whether the internal troubles will stop the building of this much-needed west coast railroad improvement remains to be seen. Its completion will not only give an outlet for this rich region to the United States, but also to the City of Mexico, and the stimulus can already be seen wherever the railroad is in operation. There is not a richer section in the whole republic than these coast lands, but because of their isolation everything has been backward, and all work has been done in the very crudest and most primitive ways. The only development that has taken place is in mining, and most of the mines are even yet operated in the old-fashioned ways, because of the difficulty of transporting machinery and fuel. The territory of Tepic is almost as large as the states of Massachusetts and Connecticut combined. In natural resources it will compare with Sinaloa, for it is well watered and affords fine opportunities for agriculture. Some day the jungles will be transformed into orange groves and banana plantations, while the higher lands will produce rich harvests of grain and coffee. The water power could be utilized to turn the wheels of factories or to run the railroads which are so much needed. The capital city of Tepic, a municipality of fifteen thousand people, has been asleep, but will now be awakened daily by the noise of the locomotive. At an elevation of three thousand feet the air is fresh and invigorating. The climate is pronounced almost ideal by those who live there, and it is free from the fevers that prevail in the low coast lands. It does not differ in general appearance from many other Mexican cities, but is a quaint and interesting town.