An aguila dorada beats its wings and lifts off a twisting sapodilla tree branch overlooking the ruins of the once-mighty jungle kingdom of Palenque. It rises above undulating hills and past the majestic strongholds of the western hemisphere's greatest ancient civilization. It soars past stonework cut to perfection without modern tools, glides past 1,000-year-old solar calendars whose ancient timekeeping rivals the modern atomic clock. The eagle heads west and passes cerulean rivers cutting through emerald jungles plunging into the fissure of the Sumidero Canyon. Thermals lift the eagle to the high, dusty plain of Monte Alban and it turns north. It approaches the eternal spring of Cuenavaca and then over the frenetic megalopolis of Cuidad de Mexico. It glides above the imposing Teatitulaican and then drifts through the pastoral Bajío. The world's two biggest oceans flank the sides of her long north/south country. The air grows warmer as she traverses the spine of the Sierra Madre. The mountains flow down and dissolve into verdant jungles which, in turn, edge right up narrow beaches with crashing blue waves. The Sierra Madre then gives way to wild, tawny country, filled again with canyons, mesas and then ends at the Rio Bravo. The national symbol of Mexico is traced over a rich tapestry of topography, cultures, economies, history, and mixture of peoples. Reflected in this diversity is Mexico's stunning contribution to world jurisprudence: the Amparo.