Chapter X: Part I: North American Dominions (6)

Iztaccihuatl is the next greatest elevation of the chain of Puebla, and is situated near the former on the north-west of it, and close to the boundaries of the province of Mexico; this mountain is part of the Sierra Nevada; its height is 15,700 feet above the level of the sea, and it appears to have been an active volcano; and between these two, Cortez and his wondering army passed when he marched to attack the capital; they are both constantly enveloped in snow on their upper peaks.

The whole of Puebla is under the torrid zone; the western part is a mere desert, and the east, from the above named volcano to the borders of Vera Cruz, where there are beautiful plains filled with fields of maize, corn, sugar, cotton, fruit, &c., is the most populous, containing 813,300 souls. It is on this ridge or plain, that the most ancient monuments of the former state of the Mexicans exist, of which the greatest and most astonishing, is the pyramid or temple of Cholula, 177 feet high, with a base of 1420 feet in breadth. It is divided into four stages; on the top the Spaniards have erected a temple to the Virgin, in which mass is constantly performed. This pyramid is built of layers of brick and clay, and has been injured by part of it having been destroyed to form a road, which has, however, shown that it was a place of burial, as in the Egyptian pyramids; the faces of this structure are directed to the four quarters of the globe, and as in the others before-mentioned, vestiges, though not very perfect, are found of smaller pyramids around it. It had an altar on its summit dedicated to the god of the air, who was one of the most ancient Mexican lawgivers, and is represented to have disappeared suddenly, promising to return to resume the reins of government; the Mexicans imagined that Cortez and his Spaniards were the descendants and messengers of this mysterious being.

The view from the summit of this pyramid is very superb; the volcanoes of La Puebla, the Pico de Orizaba, and the stormy summits of the Sierra de Tlascala being distinctly visible from it. It is covered with vegetation, which renders an accurate examination of its superficies impossible.

There are some great salt works in Puebla, and some fine quarries of marble.

Puebla contains six cities and 600 villages.

The Tlascalan part of Puebla has been lately united to Mexico; the chief town Tlascala, being governed by a cacique who is the kingʼs lieutenant, and four Indian judges; and the municipal body is composed entirely of Indians.

Cholula, Tlascala, and Huexotzinco, are famous as having been the three republics which so long resisted the power of the Mexican kings; Tlascala for having been the ally of Cortez, and Cholula, as a holy city.----Three distinct languages are spoken by the Indians; the Mexican being one, which is spoken only by the Indians of the towns of Tlascala, Puebla and Cholula.

The town of most note after the capitals Puebla and Tlascala, is _Cholula_, which has a population of 16,000 souls. In ancient times this was one of the first of the Mexican cities, containing an immense number of inhabitants, and was deemed the sacred town of the empire; it contained more than 400 temples and places of worship. Cortez was astonished at the sight of this city, and described it with admiration in his letters to the king.

_Huexotzinco_, now a small place, was formerly the capital of the republic of that name, and a very populous city; as was also--

_Atlixco_, celebrated for its pure air, and excellent fruits, with many others which the limits of this work forbid us to enumerate.

The great mining undertakings of New Spain are not paid so much attention to in this province as in many others; however, it is not deficient in ores; but the fertility of the soil renders agriculture and other branches of commerce to be the more attended to; and where tillage once takes place in America, the produce of the interior of the earth is not so greatly sought after.

The principal river of the Intendancy of Puebla, is the Rio Yopez, which rises in the mountains near La Puebla, and throws itself into the Pacific just below the boundary of Valladolid; there are also several others on the Pacific coast, but of no material moment.

_INTENDANCY OF VERA CRUZ._

THIS Intendancy lies almost entirely along the shore of the Gulf of Mexico, and may consequently be denominated the eastern maritime province of New Spain; it contains, indeed, the most celebrated port in the viceroyalty, from the name of which that of the province is derived.

Vera Cruz lies wholly within the tropics, and its coast is consequently subject to violent heats, which render it unhealthy: but in the interior the high mountains and the declivity of the table land, or plain of the ridge of Anahuac, ameliorates the climate, and renders it suitable for European constitutions.

The length of this province, from the salt water lake of Terminos to the mouth of the great Panuco River, is 210 leagues, and its breadth twenty-six. It is bounded, on the north by San Luis Potosi, or New Santander; on the east by the Gulf of Mexico and Yucatan, or Merida; west by Puebla, Oaxaca, and Mexico; and south by Oaxaca, or Guaxaca, and the kingdom of Guatimala.

Vera Cruz comprehends within its limits the former province of Tabasco.

M. de Humboldt has given a very animated picture of the sensations excited in a traveller when he ascends the acclivity leading from the coast of Vera Cruz, the capital, to the Plain of Perote. Here, he says, nature may be observed in the course of a few hours in all her variety; suffocating heat prevails on the coast; ascending, the air becomes gradually more pure and less heated; the face of the country sensibly changes; the productions of the torrid zone first meet the eye, then those of the temperate, and the eager step of curiosity advancing may place it amid the region of ever during snow and ice. The mountains covered to a certain height above and below with a belt of oaks, of bananas, and trees of the liquid amber, denote that the climate is conducive to health; the hardy pine ascends the higher regions, and becomes more and more stunted in its growth, till it is lost in fields of snow. The majestic features of the volcanoes, the vast expanse of the ocean, the verdure of the forests, and the fall of the cataracts, rushing from the mountains, cause the most wonderful and gratifying variety in the _coup dʼ[oe]il_ of this singular province.

The pimento, the vanilla, jalap, cacao, tobacco, sarsaparilla, cotton, indigo, and sugar are amongst the principal productions of Vera Cruz, and in some of which a very lucrative and considerable trade is carried on.

The population of the Intendancy has been estimated at 156,000; part of which is concentrated in the town of Vera Cruz, and in the towns on the table land; and the remainder thinly scattered over the extent of country between the coast and the mountains.

The capital of this province is _La Vera Cruz_, which is the seat of government, situated in 19° 11ʹ 52ʺ north latitude, and 96° 8ʹ 45ʺ west longitude; with a secure harbour sufficiently large for a great fleet, having from four to ten fathom water; the only danger being from the northerly winds, which are excessively violent, and have sometimes done much damage to the shipping in the port. This harbour swarms with aquatic birds.

The defence of the port is principally Fort St. Juan de Ulua, situated on a small island at the entrance of the channel, strongly fortified, and mounting three hundred pieces of cannon. It was this island that Juan de Grijalva discovered in 1518. This city is neither the Villa Rica de la Vera Cruz, nor Vera Cruz el Antigua of the followers of Cortez, both of which were deserted on account of their unhealthiness; it stands on the spot where Cortez first set his foot on the continent, on the 21st of April 1519.

_Vera Cruz_ is the mart for the merchandizes of the East and West India Islands. The situation of the city is bad, on account of the marshy soil and the barren tract round it. It projects in a semicircular form into the sea, and is inclosed with a parapet six feet in height, and three broad at the crest, having a palisade. This rampart has six low bastions or square towers, twelve feet high. Along the shore on the north-west is a redoubt mounted with cannon; and on the south-east is another, to defend the port. The houses of the city are built of stone, and have wooden balconies; the streets being wide, paved, and in good order. The churches are numerous and richly decorated, and the inhabitants are chiefly merchants, very indolent, and very devout Catholics. The great luxury of their houses is porcelain; trade is carried on here to a great extent, and the city is accounted to have seven or eight houses, each worth a million of dollars. The women are not reckoned very handsome, and are kept in great retirement; they are excused from going to mass during the north winds, which are very violent, and load the ramparts with sand from the beach. Processions and religious shows are the principal amusement of the people, who, during the time there are no arrivals, are computed at about 16,000: but this amount is much swelled in the season when the fleet arrives from Spain; at which time there is a fair here and at Xalapa, and lodging is not to be had. The display of riches on this occasion is immense; but since the galleons have been done away with, and the restrictions of the other ports taken off, Vera Cruz, no longer enjoying the monopoly, has dwindled from its former importance; it is, however, still a place of great trade. In the rainy season, the water falls chiefly during the night, and at this period the marshes and bogs on the south are infested with alligators of seven or eight feet in length, but which are said to be innocent. The mosquitoes, during this season, are intolerable, and the country subject to earthquakes, so that these evils, combined with its unhealthy situation, render it no very desirable residence. Commerce, all-powerful commerce, nevertheless, draws man to this abode, and in the middle of swamps, reptiles, venomous insects, tornadoes and earthquakes, he finds enjoyment in its pursuit, and shortens his life to amass a few grains of dust to enrich those, who after he is gone, laugh at him for his pains. The Buccaneers and different powers having taken and sacked this city several times, the Spanish government built small forts along the line of coast near it.

The black vomit, that dreadful malady which so often prevails in this town, has been supposed to be owing, in a great measure, to the want of good water, the richer people contenting themselves with what falls in for all the uses of the kitchen and table; the poorer class living on bad water collected from the ditches. An aqueduct is constructing, though very slowly, and at immense expence, to bring a pure stream to the city.

Old Vera Cruz is also a sea-port near the former city, at the distance of only fifteen miles to the north. Cortez landed here in 1518. It is also situated very unhealthily in a marsh, and on a river which is full of large alligators, said to be strong enough to manage an ox, and to draw him under water. They devour all the dogs which fall in their way.

_Xalapa_, on the north of Vera Cruz, is the place where almost all the business of the European commerce is transacted. It gives its name to the medicinal root commonly called jalap, but originally spelt Xalap. This town is the see of a bishop, and contains 13,000 inhabitants; it is placed at the foot of a basaltic mountain, and its environs are highly picturesque; but it is sometimes subject to thick fogs for weeks together, during the winter. The merchants of Vera Cruz reside mostly at Xalapa. This town is at the height of 4264 feet above the level of the port of Vera Cruz, and contains an excellent drawing academy for young mechanics; the great road from Mexico to Vera Cruz will pass by it.

_Cordova_, near the Pico de Orizaba, and _Orizaba_ are famous for being the places where the tobacco for home consumption in New Spain is mostly produced.

To complete the description of this intendancy, there remains only to notice a part of it, which was until very lately a distinct province, the coast of which is still designated the Tabasco shore.

THE PROVINCE OF TABASCO

OCCUPIED the southern portion of the present government of Vera Cruz, and was 100 miles long and 60 miles broad. The soil is not very fertile, neither is the air healthy, as the country is in general flat and marshy, filled with small lagoons or lakes; and as it rains during greater part of the year, the climate is very damp. The coast is subject, from September to March, including both those months, to dreadful storms, the northerly gales prevailing during that period, which renders navigation dangerous and difficult. In February, March and April, the heats prevail, which are insupportable, and accompanied with infinite swarms of mosquitoes and other venomous insects. Notwithstanding all these disadvantages, the inhabitants have good farms, well stocked with cattle, in which their principal traffic consists. To Vera Cruz they also export maize and cocoa nuts, and the Spaniards having brought vines, lemons, oranges and fig-trees here, they are now found in abundance, and thrive very well in most parts of the country. The natives reap from three to four harvests of maize in the year, and have rice, barley, European garden herbs and fruits, as well as those common to America. The cacao tree grows so well in Tabasco, that they formerly paid their tribute to the Mexican emperors in chocolate.

The woods, which are principally of Brazil-wood and cedar, with thickets of bamboos, mangroves, &c. are infested with serpents, tigers, bears and apes; and the rabbit, the deer, the squirrel, &c., find covert and shelter every where.

The marshes and lakes are well stored with fish.

The chief town, and one of the oldest of New Spain, is _Tabasco_, in 18° 34ʹ north latitude, 93° 36ʹ west longitude, called also _Neustra Senora de la Victoria_, on account of a great victory which Cortez gained here on his first landing. It stands on an island at the mouth of the Rio Grijalva, which divides itself near the gulf into two arms; the west arm falls into the Rio Tabasco; and the other continues its course till within twelve miles of the ocean, where it again divides, and separates the island on which the city stands, from the continent.

The town is not very extensive, but strongly and well built, and owes its prosperity to a sort of annual fair at Christmas.

The island of Tabasco is about thirty-six miles in length, and seven or eight broad; near it, on the continent, are great plains abounding in cattle, sheep, &c., and a wild animal called the mountain cow, or tapir, which subsists on the moss that accumulates on trees near the great rivers, in marshy situations.

_Villa Hermosa_ and _Tlacotalpan_, formerly the principal Indian town of Tabasco, are the only remaining towns of note.

The principal river of the Intendancy of Vera Cruz, is the Rio Tabasco, which rises in the mountains of Chiapa, and after a circuitous course, and receiving the Grijalva and other streams, runs into the gulf of Mexico: it is said that some of the largest cabbage and cotton trees, which are known in the New World, grow on the banks of this fine river.

There are some other streams in this country, viz. the Sumasinta, which rises in the mountains of Chiapa, twenty miles south of Sacatulan, and falls into the gulf near the isthmus of Yucatan.

The Rio Tula, under the name of Motesuema, pervades this province in the north, as do the Rio Panuco, or Tampico, the Rio Atopan, and the Rio Antigua, which rise near the volcano of Perote, the Rio Blanco which rises near the Orizaba volcano, the Rio del Passo and Huasacualco, with many others, which all fall into the Mexican gulf, and form large and numerous islands, of which little is known.

The lake, or enclosed bay, of Tamiagua, is an extraordinary large basin, having a long and narrow outlet to the south, parallel with the shore; it contains a large island called De Ramirez, and several others. Lakes, or lagoons, and indentations, are very frequent on this coast, as are islands; but a bar extending all along, and the insalubrity of the climate, prevents the shore from being explored.

The volcanoes of Vera Cruz form the most astonishing feature of its scenery; of these, the highest is the great volcano of Orizaba, visible from Mexico; it is the most elevated mountain of Spanish North America, excepting only Popocatepetl; its form is that of a truncated cone, with a large crater, from which issues fire, smoke and ashes; as it is considerably above the lower period of congelation in these latitudes, its summit is constantly covered with snow. The inferior limit of congelation is very distinctly marked on the Mexican summits; at a distance, it forms so accurate a line on the cones, that it appears the effect of art rather than of nature, and adds greatly to the singularity of the landscape. This volcano is called, in the Mexican dialect, Citlaltepetl, or the Starry Mountain, its fire appearing like a star, when viewed from the capital, and is 17,371 feet above the level of the sea; its cone is a little inclined, at the summit, to the south-east.

The next summit is Nauhcampatepetl, or the Square Mountain, which the Spaniards call Cofre de Perote, from the small square rock on the top.

The Cofre de Perote is 13,414 feet above the level of the sea, and is to the north-east of Orizaba. It is seen at a great distance at sea, being a landmark for the harbour of Vera Cruz. There appears no crater at the top; but from beds of lava, and the whole mountain being surrounded with pumice stones, and other substances attendant on volcanoes, it is evident that it has formerly been one of a tremendous nature.

There is another volcano on the coast, to the south of Tlacotalpan, and in that part of the shore which projects considerably into the Mexican gulf; it is the highest summit of a small chain, called Sierra de St. Martin. The distance is twelve miles from the beach to the volcano, which is called Volcan de Tuxtla, from a small village of the Indians in its vicinity. It is a very powerful volcano, and some dreadful eruptions have lately taken place; the last was not more than twenty years ago, when the houses and streets of Vera Cruz were covered with ashes, and the noise, resembling the firing of cannon, was heard 57 leagues distant.

The height of this volcano has not been ascertained, but it is considerably inferior to those which we have mentioned, as crossing the Cordillera of Anahuac, in a transversal line.

The next objects of curiosity which we have to turn our attention to, in traversing the intendancy of Vera Cruz, are the pyramidical remains of temples, of which that of Papantla has been recently discovered in the bosom of a forest; this building is not of layers of clay and stones, or brick, as those we have described are, but differs from them in all its architectural points; it is composed of enormous stones, cemented together, and well polished and finished, and is only 82 feet in base, with a height of about 160 feet. It has seven different platforms round it, and a square summit. In the middle of one of the faces a large and well-cut stair ascends the whole height. Niches are observed along the sides of each stage, regularly decreasing in number to the top; and the whole is carved in relief with figures.

_INTENDANCY OF GUAXACA, OR OAXACA._

THIS province is bounded on the north by Vera Cruz and Puebla; on the west by Puebla; on the east by Chiapa and Guatimala, and on the south by the Pacific.

This intendancy, the last of the viceroyalty of New Spain, to the south-west, is esteemed one of its most fertile districts, producing excellent chocolate and cochineal, sugar, cotton, rice, plantains, cassia and indigo. The mountainous parts abound in mines of gold, silver, lead and crystal; and many of its rivers have particles of gold in their sands. The inhabitants are, however, not very industrious, and there are but two manufactures of indigo, and five hundred looms in employ for the weaving of cotton. It has also a manufacture, in its chief city, of black wax. Oaxaca may be stiled the western maritime province of New Spain, as it embraces a great extent of coast along the Pacific ocean.

The capital is _Oaxaca_, in 17° 30ʹ north latitude, at the opening of three large plains, one of which runs as far as Guatimala. This city stands on a river, which runs into the sea, near Vera Cruz, and aqueducts supply it with pure and wholesome water from the mountains on the north-east of the town. The form of Oaxaca is an oblong square, being two miles long, and one and a quarter wide, and surrounded by gardens and plantations of the cactus, which feeds the cochineal insect; and it is at this city that the most abundant gatherings of that valuable insect take place.

The streets are wide, uniform and well paved, and the houses mostly built of stone, two stories high. From a distance, the beautiful spires and numerous houses of stone, give it a magnificent appearance, and nothing seems to be wanting to render it a delightful abode, but superior industry; for the air is clear and healthy, and here reigns a perpetual spring, refreshed by westerly breezes in the evening, and the east winds in the morning. The temperature of the climate causes the fruits of Europe to flourish luxuriantly in the gardens; and thus, with the native trees, they have a constant succession for the luxuries of the table.

The town house is a stone building, in the middle of one of the sides of the great square, and has not been long built; the stone of this edifice is of a green colour, and has a pretty effect; the cathedral and bishopʼs palace occupy two of the other sides of the square; which is surrounded with arcades. There are many monasteries and churches of handsome architecture, and magnificently ornamented.

The population, including mulattoes, Indians and negroes, which form the greater portions, (the whites not being very numerous) is estimated at 24,000.

The governor of the province resides here, as well as the diocesan. Yet this beautiful city, so delightfully situated, in such a temperate clime, so fruitful a soil, and with such beautiful decorations, is sometimes visited by that tremendous scourge, an earthquake; and has a few years back suffered very much from the effects of one which was felt over all this part of the continent.

The other towns of the greatest importance, in the province of Guaxaca, are _Tehuantepec_, a sea-port town, situated on the shore of the great bay of Tecoantapeque, at the foot of a mountain, whose summit is a volcano, in 16° 20ʹ north latitude, 95° 1ʹ west longitude, with a population of 2600 families of Indians, and fifty of whites.

_Aguatulco_, or _Guatulco_, is a sea-port of Guaxaca, with a large and well frequented harbour, in the Pacific, in 15° 44ʹ north latitude, famed as having been plundered by Sir Francis Drake.

_Embarcadero_ is situated on the western side of the province in a small harbour of the Pacific.

_San Pedro_, a sea-port 75 miles south of Guaxaca.

_San Antonio de los Cues_, in the north, on the route from Orizaba and Vera Cruz to Oaxaca, with a large population, is famous for the remains of some Mexican fortifications, but which are in great dilapidation.

There are four mines of silver, which are very valuable, in Oaxaca, and the population of the province, amounts to 534,800.

Oaxaca is described as the finest, healthiest and most productive province of New Spain; and its former inhabitants were amongst the most civilized of the people discovered by the Spanish conquerors. It is extremely mountainous, and is divided into two highland districts, called Mixteca and Tzapoteca. The Cordillera, which runs through the province, falls to the oceans on either side; and it is said the mountains are so high, that in one or two points, the Pacific and Atlantic may be observed at the same time, the summits are however not so high as those of Mexico, and their substance differs widely. In Oaxaca, granite and gneiss compose the ridges; whilst in Mexico, basaltes, amygdaloid, porphyry, and grunstein, are the strata which form those tremendous elevations.

The most singular monument of the ancient inhabitants of this province is the ruins of Mitla, which was the burial place of the chiefs or kings of the country, and is finely constructed of stone, covered with sculpture; the excavations under the building are very large, and lined with large engraved stones. Six columns of porphyry, sixteen feet in height, of a single piece each, support the roof of a large room, and the whole is in good preservation; many curious paintings having been found amongst the rubbish.

These ruins are ten leagues south-east of Oaxaca.

The province is celebrated, as part of it forming a grant made to Cortez, for his services, with the title of Marquess.

It consists of four towns and 49 villages, and now belongs to the Duke of Monte Leone, a descendant of the conqueror.

The rivers of Oaxaca are principally, the Rio Verde, on which Oaxaca stands, which rises in the mountains of Higher Mixteca, and falls into the Pacific; the river Chicometapea, after receiving others, falls into the Pacific, north of the former.

The river Chimalapa, on the southern boundary, which falls into the bay of Tecoantepec, and several smaller ones along the coast, all of which proceed from the mountains, water the country, render it fertile, and also fall into the Pacific.

_YUCATAN OR THE INTENDANCY OF MERIDA._

YUCATAN is the most easterly province of the kingdom of New Spain, and is in the form of a peninsula, jutting out into the gulf of Mexico from the main land of the isthmus; it is surrounded on the north-west by the waters of the Mexican gulf; by the bay or gulf of Honduras on the south-east; the province of Vera Cruz bounds it on the south-west, and Vera Paz in Guatimala on the south. Here it is connected with the continent of North America, by an isthmus of about 120 miles in breadth. The English have settlements extending a short distance along the east coast of Yucatan, opposite Ambergris Key.

The soil of this peninsula is very prolific, and when under proper cultivation, produces great crops of corn, maize, indigo and cotton. The climate is hot, their summer beginning in April and finishing in September, but January and February are very warm months, the rest of the winter cooler, and little or no rain falls throughout that season. The north side is the pleasantest, for although very hot, it is refreshed by gentle breezes; on the whole the climate of Yucatan is not an unhealthy one. It produces and sustains vast quantities of cattle, fowls, and bees; honey and wax, are therefore plenty; and its forests afford shelter to various kinds of wild beasts. It has no mines, for which reason it is not much settled by the whites, the chief part of its inhabitants being Indians, who are employed in making salt in Campeachy Bay, and are subject to the Spaniards. On the coasts of Yucatan, large pieces of amber are frequently found. There is a ridge of considerable mountains pervades the whole extent of this province, which extends from the eastern side at Merida to the western extremity of the peninsula; on this range of mountains, the climate is very fine, and it is asserted that the natives live to a great age. On the north side of this chain the land is refreshed with breezes, and contains plenty of springs; but the southern side is in want of good water, ill cultivated and thinly peopled, the settlers being chiefly on the north. In Merida the nights and days are nearly of a length owing to its situation.

In Yucatan there are very few rivers of any consequence, but springs are numerous, especially on the north side, and in digging for their wells, in which they always find water at a little depth, shells are usually found, from which, with the shallowness of the sea near the coast, it has been supposed that the greater part of the peninsula was once submerged. The eastern coast of Yucatan is not inhabited by Spanish colonists, the English alone appearing there, except in the small fort of Bacalar, which has been built to prevent the British from going into the interior. The British logwood cutters find that article in greatest perfection in Campeachy Bay, and in the Bay of Honduras; but it has been said that the logwood of Campeachy is more plentiful, as well as greatly superior to that of Honduras.

_Campeachy_, or _St. Francisco de Campeche_, the principal trading town of Yucatan, is situated in 19° 50ʹ 45ʺ north latitude, and 90° 30ʹ west longitude, on the west shore of the Bay of Campeachy, in the gulf of Mexico, in the river St. Francisco. It has some fortifications which command the town and harbour, and has often been plundered and taken by the English and French buccaneers; In 1659 it was taken by the English under Sir Christopher Mims, in 1678 by the Buccaneers, and in 1685 by the pirates of St. Domingo; the last named year they set fire to the town and fortification, and plundered the adjacent country to the distance of fifteen miles; they also burnt 50,000_l._ worth of logwood, because the governor would not ransom the place for an enormous sum which they demanded. When the Spaniards first took this place, it contained three thousand houses, with many beautiful monuments of the Indian arts. The houses at present are numerous, and well built of stone; the harbour is large, but not deep; and the chief manufacture is cotton cloth, and wax. It used formerly to be the market for logwood till the British landed; when they cut it at Trieste island, 120 miles from Campeachy, near the isthmus. Great quantities of logwood formerly grew all about Campeachy, but the British have nearly monopolized this trade.

The logwood cutting establishments are under the Spanish governor; but by the treaty of peace in 1783, the British were allowed the privilege of cutting it without being molested.

The wood is felled at stated seasons, and in stated places, by permission of the intendant, and is dried for a year previous to exportation. This wood is not confined to Yucatan; it grows in abundance on the coast of South America, near the mouths of the Orinoco. The town of Campeachy contains 6000 people.

The language of the Indians is styled the Maya Tongue; and Yucatan is remarkable for being the scene of the early conquests and discoveries of the Spaniards, who found the natives in a state of comparative civilization; as they had stone houses, temples, and cultivated fields; some monuments of their industry still exist.

The population, including Indians, is 465,800. We have given a description of Campeachy first, on account of its being the principal trading place, and formerly the metropolis. _Merida de Yucatan_ is now the capital and residence of the intendant, who is also called captain-general. Merida is ten leagues from the coast; its port is called Sisal, being in 21° 10ʹ north latitude, 89° 59ʹ 30ʺ west longitude, with a castle and small harbour, having an immense sandbank opposite its entrance. Merida is situated in a plain almost destitute of water; the population amounts to 10,000. This with _Campeachy_ and _Valadolid_, famous for its cotton plantations, are the most noted places of the country, with the large Indian villages of Zampolan and Equetchecan, between Merida and Campeachy.

_GUATIMALA._

Guatimala is a general name for a portion of the territory on the narrow part of the continent, which reaches from Oaxaca and Vera Cruz, southward to Veragua, on the isthmus of Darien. This tract of land is subject to the government of a captain-general, and is called the Capitania General of Guatimala, or as it is sometimes written, Gualtimala. The officer who exercises this command is independent of the viceregal court of Mexico, and is appointed by the king of Spain, consulting the viceroy on important occasions only; in what regards the immediate government of the captain-generalship, he is perfectly independent of any of the viceroys of the New World, acting solely on behalf and in the name of His Catholic Majesty. Of his power and resources, with his emoluments, &c. very little can be said, as this interesting portion of Spanish America has not attracted the serious attention of any contemporary writers.

The territory of Guatimala is subdivided into numerous provinces or districts, of which the following names are given as a list: Soconusco, Suchitepec, Sonsonate, St. Salvador, St. Miguel, Tiguesgalpa, Choluteca, or Keses, Honduras, Nicaragua, Costa Rica, Vera Paz and Chiapa. The first seven of these are denominated Guatimala, in the most modern maps, which is however an error.

The general appearance of the soil, (excepting the neighbourhoods of the volcanoes,) is fertile in the extreme; and Guatimala abundantly produces corn, cochineal, honey, wax, cotton, the sugar-cane, indigo, maize, pimento and chocolate. There are plenty of cattle and sheep in the farming districts. The climate differs greatly, according to the situation of the provinces on the eastern or western coasts; the western side is in general the best and healthiest, as may be observed, throughout the whole of North America. The whole country is mountainous, of which the particular ridges are very little known. In the Guatimala of the maps, that is to say, on the western shore from Guaxaca to Veragua, the country is dreadfully subject to tremendous convulsions of the earth, which has at times involved whole cities in ruin, exterminated complete tribes of people, and reversed the order of peaceful nature. The volcanoes are extremely numerous, and some of them terrific; no less than twenty are known to exist, which are constantly in action. The captain-general is commander of the troops, and Guatimala, the chief city, is the seat of a royal audience, which governs twenty-five districts. This Audienza Real, or Supreme Court of Justice, was first established in 1554.

The capital of this extensive country is GUATIMALA, which is situated in 14° 28ʹ north latitude, and 92° 40ʹ west longitude. It is built near the Pacific Ocean, on the Rio Vaccas, and has a good harbour. It is the see of an archbishop, which was established in the year 1742, and seat of the Audienza Real, with that of the government of the Capitania General. This renders it a place of nearly as much importance as Mexico, or any other chief city of the Americas. It has an university, and its chief trade consists in chocolate, pitch, and naptha.

When this city was first built, it was founded on the declivity of a mountain, at whose summit was a volcano, in a beautiful valley of three miles in width, and was then called St. Jago. This valley opened to, and fronted the Pacific Ocean, and the town contained about 7000 families.

In the year 1751, this unfortunate city was overwhelmed by an earthquake, and by the matter from the volcano, which is called the Volcan de Guatimala. Notwithstanding this awful calamity, the surviving inhabitants ventured to rebuild their favourite abode; but direful to relate, another and a more tremendous convulsion again destroyed the devoted place in the year 1775. The greater part of the inhabitants were buried in the ruins, and the whole circumstance was one of the most tremendous and calamitous ever known. The city was again rebuilt shortly afterwards, on the spot on which it now stands, which is twenty-five geographical miles to the southward of the Old Town. It is a magnificent place, adorned with churches and monasteries, and an university reckoned one of the best in the empire. The women have been celebrated for their beauty, and the people altogether for their suavity of manners and courteous disposition. The moisture of the climate has been stated as a cause of the beauty and delicacy of the females.

The number of inhabitants in this city has been computed at about 19,000.

_GUATIMALA PROPER_,

Or the Guatimala of the maps, is a division of the above territory, which is bounded on the north by Vera Paz, Chiapa, Guaxaca and Honduras; on the south, by the Pacific; on the east, by Nicaragua; and on the west, by Guaxaca and the Pacific Ocean. _Guatimala_ or _St. Jago de Guatimala_ is its capital, as well as that of the whole Audience. It is subdivided into the following districts, from the north to the south, along the coast of the Pacific, Soconusco, Suchitepec, Sansonate, St. Salvador, St. Miguel, Tiguesgalpa and Choluteca, or Xeses, each of which we shall separately describe, but in a limited manner, as no information, that can be relied on is to be found with respect to these regions.

SOCONUSCO.--This province is situated in the northern part of Guatimala, and is bounded on the north, by Chiapa; on the east, by Vera Paz; on the south, by the Pacific; and on the west, by Guaxaca and the Pacific.

The air in this district is exceeding hot, and the general state of the climate either rainy or sultry; the rains last from April till September, and violent storms are very frequent. Soconusco is neither a healthy nor a pleasant country, and the soil is not so fertile as in some other parts of Guatimala, the corn and maize not growing so abundantly; but to compensate for this, it produces pimento, indigo, and cacao, in great quantities, and with these articles it carries on a great trade with the other North American colonies of Spain. The Spaniards are not numerous in Soconusco, it being chiefly inhabited by Indians, but the few Spaniards who reside there are very rich. The capital of this province is _Soconusco_, or _Guevetlan_, which is situated in 18° 30ʹ north latitude, and 120° 40ʹ west longitude, on a small river which runs into the Pacific Ocean; Soconusco is 460 miles south-east of the city of Mexico.

SUCHITEPEC is a small district to the southward of Soconusco, and whose capital is _St. Antonio de Suchitepec_, which is situated on a river running into the Pacific, in 14° 44ʹ north latitude, 93° 36ʹ west longitude, and 60 miles west-north-west of Guatimala. Its population amounts to 1480, all Indians of the Suhutil nation.

SANSONATE is another small district of Guatimala, to the southward of Suchitepec, having for its capital _La Trinidad or Sansonate_, situated on the river Sonsonate, at its mouth; this town is a sea-port, and is situated 120 miles south-east of the city of Mexico, with about 2000 inhabitants, of whom 400 are whites. The population of the district is about 40,000 souls, consisting almost entirely of Indians, Mulattoes and Negroes.

ST. SALVADOR is also a small district of Guatimala to the southward of the former, which produces sugar-canes and indigo in great abundance, the soil being very fertile; the capital of this province is _Cuzcatlan_ or _St. Salvador_, which is situated in 13° 40ʹ north latitude, 89° 20ʹ west longitude, twelve miles from the coast of the Pacific Ocean, and 140 miles east-south-east of Guatimala; it has a little trade, and is the residence of a governor: many maps have absurdly made this town the capital of Spanish North America. Its population is about 5,000 Indians, whites and Castes.

ST. MIGUEL, to the southward of the former, is another small district, having for its capital _St. Miguel_, which is situated fifty miles east of St. Salvador or Cuzcatlan.

TIGUESGALPA or TIGUAZALPA, is also a small district of the same country, situated near the province of Nicaragua, whose capital of the same name is situated on a river which runs into Amapalla Bay; eighty miles north of Leon de Nicaragua, in 13° 50ʹ north latitude, and 87° 36ʹ west longitude.

CHOLETUCA is also another and the last district of that division of the Audience of Guatimala, which is named Guatimala Proper, or Guatimala only in the maps; of all these foregoing divisions little or nothing is known; their climate is very hot, they have rains from April to September, and are bounded from the eastern or Atlantic provinces of Guatimala by a ridge of mountains which are very lofty, and in which there exists numerous dreadful volcanoes. The whole of this country is subject to earthquakes and storms, and although in general very fertile and productive, it has little commerce, there being no mines of any great importance in its whole range; the number of its inhabitants has not been ascertained. Its rivers are not considerable, nor has it any lakes of consequence.

SOLOLA, QUESALTENANGO, TOTANICAPAN, ESCUINTLA, &c. are the names of other districts in the interior, mostly inhabited by Indians living in missions or villages; but as so little is accurately known concerning this kingdom, it is of no use to merely enumerate titles of districts.

_CHIAPA_

Is the next province of Guatimala which occurs in tracing the map of that country; it is situated inland, and is bounded on the north by the province of Tabasco; on the south-east, by Vera Paz; south-west by Soconusco, and west by Guaxaca; it is 255 miles in length from west to east, and 300 miles broad at its widest, and ninety at its smallest breadth. It is full of hills and mountains, but has no mines, nor is gold found in its rivers; the Spaniards therefore only value it for its situation, which renders it the key to New Spain, as the river Tabasco, Puerto Real, and its vicinity to Yucatan render it the easiest of access of any part of their dominions. The principal river is the Chiapa, which rises inland, and running to the north through the Indian country of the Quelenes, falls into the Mexican gulf at Tabasco. This river is the great road of the inhabitants of Chiapa; by it they carry on a considerable trade with the adjacent provinces, particularly in cochineal and silk, the Indian women making beautiful handkerchiefs of the latter article, which are eagerly sought by the Spaniards for the European market.

Chiapa abounds with magnificent forests of cedar, cypress, pine, oak, walnut, &c. with trees which yield all sorts of aromatic balsams and gums, copal, &c.; wild cochineal, maize, corn, cacao, and cotton are also extremely productive, and fruits are found here of every kind that is known in these regions. The natives colour the chocolate with a substance called achiotte. This province is famous for its fine cattle, and for a very excellent breed of horses, which are in such request that they often send them to Mexico, 500 miles distant.

Wild beasts are very numerous in its forests, and wild hogs, foxes and rabbits are seen every where in its plains; snakes of a formidable size, said to be twenty feet long, are found in the mountainous parts, also others of a red colour, streaked with black and white, which are tamed by the Indians, who carry them about their persons.

The inhabitants of this country are a well made, fair people, very courteous in their manners and skilled in music and painting, with great knowledge of the mechanical arts.

The chief town of this province is CHIAPA or _Cuidad Real_, or _Chiapa de los Espagnoles_; it is the see of a bishop, whose revenue is 8000 ducats per annum. It is also the seat of the courts of justice, and is situated in 17° north latitude, and 96° 40ʹ west longitude, in a beautiful plain environed with mountains, at nearly the same distance from the Pacific Ocean as from the gulf of Mexico, and 300 miles to the north of Guatimala. Chiapa Real is neither very populous nor very rich, and it is said that the upper orders of the Spaniards who inhabit it are proud, poor and ignorant to a proverb. The families amount to four hundred in the city, and the Indian families in the suburbs, to about one hundred. The cathedral is an edifice of beautiful appearance and the city has several monasteries. It is governed by a magistrate chosen amongst the burgesses, in consequence of a privilege granted the city by the king of Spain, and its principal commerce consists in cacao, cotton and cochineal.

CHIAPA DE LOS INDIOS, or _Chiapa of the Indians_, is the next town of rank in this province; this is the largest city which they have in the country, and is situated 36 miles north-west of Chiapa Real, in a valley near the Rio Tabasco.

The town is extensive and opulent, and is filled with Indians who hold a high rank amongst their tribes. It is asserted that this city contains 20,000 people of the native race. The climate is excessively hot during the day-time in this part of the country, but the evenings and nights are cool. There are many monasteries and churches in this town; the first bishop was the celebrated Bartolomeo de las Casas, who struggled so hard for the rights of the Indians, and whose memory is consequently very dear to them. On the river Tabasco the inhabitants amuse themselves in performing naval actions with boats; and all around the town are farms which are plentifully stocked with cattle; in the vicinity there are also some sugar plantations: wheat is sold here from Chiapa Real, and biscuits are made of it, which are bartered by the natives and Spaniards for cotton, wool and other necessaries.

_PROVINCE OF VERA-PAZ._

The province of Guatimala next to Chiapa is Vera-Paz; it is bounded on the north by the provinces of Chiapa and Yucatan; on the east, by Honduras and the bay or gulf of Honduras; on the south, by Guatimala; and on the west by the Saine and Chiapa. It is about 120 miles in length, and 74 in extreme breadth. The air in the higher parts of Vera-Paz is healthy; in the low land insalubrious. This district is subject to earthquakes, to nine months of rain, and storms with dreadful thunder and lightning. The mountains which overspread great part of the country, are thickly covered with forests, of which cedars occupy the greatest part. It is not much cultivated, and yields a little corn and fruits. The wild animals of America are very numerous in the extensive woods of Vera-Paz. Its trade consists chiefly in drugs, cotton, cacao, honey, wool, &c.; and from its situation on the gulf of Honduras, might be rendered much more flourishing than it is. The gulf of Dolce or Dulce, a sort of large lake, but which communicates with the sea by means of the gulf of Amatique, lies on the eastern and southern part of Vera-Paz, and seems placed there by nature, to facilitate the commerce of the government of Guatimala.

The chief town of Vera-Paz is _Coban_, or _Vera-Paz_, situated in north latitude 15° 50ʹ west longitude, 91° 14ʹ; 600 miles south-east of Mexico, on the Rio Coban which falls into the gulf or lake of Dulce.

_THE PROVINCE OF NICARAGUA_

Is bounded on the north by Honduras, on the east by the Caribbean sea, on the west by Guatimala and the Pacific, and on the south by Costa Rica.

The climate is, generally speaking, salubrious; the summers are hot, but not unhealthy, and in the winter they have much rain and storms.

It is one of the most woody countries of Spanish North America, and where cultivated, extremely fertile, so much so, as to receive the name of the “Garden of America.” When the Spaniards first discovered it, they called it Paraiso de Mahoma, Mahometʼs Paradise, on account of the beauty of the country, and the perfume of the odoriferous plants, with which the soil is covered. Its chief products are flax, hemp, balsams, cotton, sugar, long-pepper, turpentine, liquid amber and Nicaragua-wood, which is a substance used in the dying trade; these, with its silver mines, constitute the chief objects of the labour and traffic of its inhabitants, who carry on a great trade with Panama, &c.

Wheat is not plentiful in Nicaragua, nor is there any great quantity of sheep, but black cattle and hogs are very numerous.

Wild turkeys and parrots occupy, with wild animals, the extensive woods, whilst the sands of some of its rivers furnish gold, which is also found in lumps in this province.

The natives are numerous, and reckoned an industrious and ingenious people, and are particularly skilled in the goldsmithʼs art.

The capital of the province of Nicaragua is LEON, or _Leon de Nicaragua_, situated on a lake of fresh water, abounding with fish, which is called by the same name, and communicates with the great lake; this town has a mountain near it with a volcano, which has sometimes caused it to suffer by earthquakes. The town is not very large, containing about 1200 houses, with many convents, and four churches. It is the see of a bishop. Its port is Realexo, which is situated near it, and is a fortified town with a good harbour, which has the same name, and is on the Rio Realejo. The river Realejo is so deep and commodious as to be capable of containing 200 sail of vessels. The town has good fortifications and fine docks for building and repairing ships. It has three churches and an hospital. Realexo is in north latitude 12° 45ʹ, 87° 30ʹ west longitude, eighteen miles north-west of Leon. It suffered much from the Buccaneers, as they found it a commodious harbour; the Pacific is shut out by an island which lies across the mouth of the bay, and forms two channels; but the one on the north-west side is the safest and best.

The town of Realexo is unhealthy owing to the marshes and creeks in its neighbourhood; its chief trade consists in cordage, pitch and tar, and in the little commerce it carries on for Leon, of which it is the embarcadero or port.

NICARAGUA, or _Granada_, is another town near the great lake at its south-eastern extremity, in 86° 15ʹ west longitude, 11° 15ʹ north latitude. In the year 1680, this town as well as the capital was sacked by the Buccaneers, it has now a considerable trade in cochineal, hides and sugar, with the neighbouring provinces.

St. JUAN is a sea-port thirty miles south-east of Leon, in 12° 10ʹ north latitude, 87° 38ʹ west longitude, and there are some others of little note.