Until we were on the final descent to Ocotopec we were sheltered from the cold wind.

To be sure, here and there, where the road passed little funnel openings along the crest, we felt fully the cold wind loaded with mist.
We noticed, what on the other trip escaped my attention, the profound difference in vegetation between the two sides of the hill upon the crest of which we were travelling.

The one slope, cold and damp, was densely forested with trees, loaded with air-plants and orchids.

The other slope, warmer and drier, was far less heavily grown, and in large part, with pines.

Among the plants noticed by the roadside was a species of pinguicula which was very common on damp clay-cuttings.