The city is built on a high plateau like that of La Grita between the Rivers Mucujun and Chama, and towering above it to the east is the white-topped Sierra Nevada, while a lower but equally steep range bounds the valley to the west. The snow on the Sierras is said to have been retreating of recent years, but there are still perpetual snow-fields and glaciers round the summits, the permanent line being now at about 15,000 feet. The city has often suffered severe damage from earthquakes, but new buildings have always quickly taken the place of those destroyed. Partly, probably, on account of the humidity of the atmosphere of the valley, Mérida has a somewhat deserted look with its grass-grown streets, yet there are looms turning out cotton and woollen cloth, and it is an important market centre for the coffee, wheat, and sugar from the various zones in its neighbourhood. The torrent of the Chama immediately above Mérida has been requisitioned to supply power for an electric lighting system in the city. The turbines were brought at great trouble and expense over the mountain track from La Ceiba, the journey occupying about a year, but in view of the determination which carried through such an enterprise, it is to be regretted that the results are not more impressive. Strings of three or four bulbs each across the street at regular intervals might provide an efficient light, but as a matter of fact they do not, the total number of lamps being far in excess of the capabilities of the present turbine installation, though much below the available water-power. As a result, while one may have the electric light in the house, it is better to resort to the homely candle for reading or writing after sunset. What is chiefly needed for Mérida to-day is a good road to connect it with the lake, across which all the produce of the region has to travel to the sea. Long ago the project was formed of building a railway along the Chama Valley to connect with Santa Barbara on the Escalante, but the engineering difficulties in the gorges would probably prevent the carrying out of any such scheme just yet; a second idea, which has never received much attention, was to carry a line up the Mucujun, and so over the pass of the outer range of the Cordillera to Bobures, on the lake, a feasible scheme enough, though at the present stage a road would better supply the need of the place.