band being sent to the city of Mexico to compete with similar organisations from other States. Morelia, like the State of which it is a capital, is a stronghold of clericalism and conservatism, and here the Church has instituted numerous schools in opposition to the State colleges. But Morelia has within its bounds the oldest collegiate institution in Mexico, that of San Nicolas de Hidalgo, founded at Patzcuaro by Bishop Quiroga in 1540, and transferred to Morelia, which was then known as Valladolid, a few years later.
Morelos, a small but wealthy State, with a population of 162,000, lies on the southern slope of the great Mexican plateau. Within its boundaries are to be Morelos. found some of the highest mountain peaks in Mexico, arid for so small a territory it possesses a wide range of climate. But it is well cultivated and irrigated, and is, indeed, one of the most flourishing agricultural States of Mexico. As a mining district, however, it has been almost entirely neglected, and its real wealth lies in sugar and molasses. The people are contented and, if wages are not high, neither are the prices of the necessaries of life. Some of the mestizos of this State are extremely artistic; and the pottery of San Antonio, a suburb of Cuernavaca, is most highly finished and rich in colour. Cuernavaca itself is one of the most romantic towns in Mexico, surrounded as it is by mountains and occupying a site where flowers blossom in abundance. Cortés built himself a residence in this old city, but this is not the only historical connection it can boast, for the unfortunate Emperor Maximilian, attracted by its beautiful situation, often retired there to his cottage of Olindo, which is almost unchanged from the day on which he quitted it. Near at hand are the ruins of Xochicalco, among the best examples of a Mexican teocalli which still exists. On its sides can be seen representations of the feathered serpent divinity, Quetzalcoatl, but unfortunately these have been much defaced. Near this place, too, is Cortés sugar hacienda and other buildings of note.
