New York and New Orleans compared, 620. North and the South, Elwood Fisher's Review Negro Life at the South, 631. Slave-Fugitive, Debate in New York Legis- Slavery-what Ills it frees us from, 487, Northern Assaults on the South-Dr. Dewey's South-Its Political Status Compared with the Elm Tree Oration, 149. Nicaragua-The Country, etc., 105. Negroes not Citizens of the United States, 331, North Carolina-Agricultural Features, 462. Population and Wealth, 263. Pauperism and Misery at the North, 437. Privateers and Privateering, 593. Public Virtue, decline of, 563. North-Free Soil Agrarianism-Fearful Re- South and North, Morality of Public Life in, South-Her Remedies and Hopes, 563. South and North, Contrast, by Elwood Fisher, Southern Presses at the North, 313. Southern Pacific Railroad, 509. Plantation Management at the South, 38, 376. Southern Steamers to France, 318. Physicians of the South, 299. Pacific Railroad-Southern, 309, 509. Railroad Companies and Iron, 519. Railroads of Louisiana and Texas, 482; Red Railroads-Wilmington and Manchester, N. Southern School Books, 105, 312, 556. Southern Convention at Savannah-Its mem- Southern Plantation Management, 88. Southern Physicians, 279. Southern and Northern Labor, 486. Revenue of the United States-Cost of Collect-Suez Canal, 604. Society, Decline of, in the Country, 565. States-Constitutional admission of new ones Tobacco Trade of Baltimore and the Union, Social Diseases and their Remedies, 419, 449. Toombs' Letter to the Southern Convention, 103. Ship Building in the United States, 354. Taxation of Northern Products, 103. Tariff of 1857 Compared with that of 1856-the Sugar Estate in Cuba, 538. Sugar-Product and Consumption of the Union Sugar Crop and Sugar Duties, 820. 431. Slave Trade-Debate in Southern Convention, 216. Slave Trade, a Remedy for Social Diseases Slave Trade compared with other immigration Tehuantepec, 193, 368. University of Virginia-Its history and organi- Uncle Tom's Cabin-a new one for England, Union, admission of States into, 613. United States Commerce, 204. Virginia, University of, 62. Virginia-Agricultural Features, 462. Western Rivers, commerce of, 630. DE BOW'S REVIEW. JANUARY, 1857. OUR SOUTHERN NEIGHBORS-VERA CRUZ. STATE OF VERA CRUZ, MEXICO-ITS TOPOGRAPHY, GENERAL AND LOCAL-RIVERS, LAKES, CLIMATE, SOIL, AND AGRICULTURAL PRODUCTS, IMPLEMENTS OF HUSBANDRY, DOMESTIC ANIMALS, CHIEF TOWNS, POPULATION, &C., &C., DESCRIBED BY FREDERICK DORING, NOW, AND FOR MANY YEARS, A RESIDENT THERE. Vera Cruz holds the most important position among the eastern States of Mexico. Its coast line, upon the Gulf of Mexico, extends from the river Panuco, which separates it on the north from the State of Tamaulipas, to the State of Tabasco, on the south, while it is bounded westerly by Oaxaca, Puebla, and Mexico, wealthy States of the interior, to which it furnishes through its principal seaport the best and most direct communication with the United States and Europe. In 1853, the district of Tuspan, formerly belonging to Puebla, was added, and the State of Vera Cruz is now composed of nine districts, namely, Vera Cruz, Jalapa and Mizantla, Orizaba and Songolica, Cordova and Cosamaloapam, Ialacingo and Papantla, Acayucam and Huimanguillo, San Andres and Santiago Tuxtla, Tuspan and Chicontepec, and Old Tampico, Ozuluama, and Tantoguia, the last known as Huasteca. The State contains nearly 3,500 square leagues, or about 10,500 square miles, with a population of about 299,000 souls, being about 28 to the square mile. Of these 200,000 are Indians, 87,000 negroes and mulattoes, and 12,000 are whites or mixed, of Spanish descent. The surface of the country is generally very uneven and hilly, with some high mountains, but extensive open plains are found to the leward, in the districts of Tuxtla, Cosamaloapam, Tlacotalpam, and Alvarado, as also to the windward, in the districts already defined as the "Huasteca." The greater portion of the State, however, is covered with dense and almost impenetrable forests, composed of a great variety of trees of ancient growth, of immense size and height, and so interlaced by vines, and entangled with undergrowth of thorny bushes, as to render it extremely difficult to penetrate them. Many rare and valuable species of timber compose these forests, such as the zapote and chijal, (either of which if placed for a length of time in the ground become, as it were, petrified, and as hard as a stone;) also, the cedar, fustic, ebony, pepper tree, palm, gum elastic tree, orange, lemon, copal, and laurel, with many other species, which, if known to the civilized world, would be highly prized. The mahogany tree abounds upon the banks of the rivers Coatzacoalcos, Pass of San Juan, and the Playa Vicente, in the district of Cosamaloapam. The two last named rivers empty into the Alvarado. I first discovered the mahogany tree on the windward coast, (or in that part of the country to the northward of Vera Cruz,) but it is far in the interior of the district of Papantla, being about 110 miles from the mouths of the rivers Tecolutla and Cazones. Rivers. The most important rivers are the Coatzacoalcos and Alvarado, in the south, and the Panuco, Tuspan, Cazones, Tecolutla, and Nautla, in the north, all having their origin in the great mountain chain of the west. The whole country is abundantly watered by lesser streams, either emptying into the large rivers already enumerated, or running directly to the sea. In the hands of an industrious and enterprising people these rivers would become the means of a cheap and quick communication between the gulf coast and the interior of the State, and would render easy and insure the development of the immense natural resources of the country. As it is, a scanty population barely exists, or better, "vegetates" there, without a thought of progress or improvement, and all the elements of wealth so abundant around them, if not entirely unknown, are utterly valueless to the inhabitants. Lakes. The only lake of any importance within the limits of this State is the one lying along the sea shore, between Tuspan and Old Tampico, and is about 120 miles in length, and in some places from 9 or 10 miles in width. Several fertile islands are interspersed in this lake, having a rich soil, and well adapted to the grazing of cattle, horses, mules, &c., and possessing a double inlet and outlet, one communicating with the sea or gulf near the famous fishing village of Tamiahua, and another with the river of Tuspan, near its mouth; the tide regularly ebbs and flows. Several small rivers from the inte rior empty into this lake, in most parts of which there is sufficient depth of water for small steamboats, and which could be made at small expense, navigable throughout its whole extent. At the extremity of this lake, on the north, distant 7 miles from the river Panuco, and 9 miles from Tampico, it would be easy to open a channel for vessels to Panuco of light draft, say 8 feet, as the land is low and level. By so doing, a most important commercial communication would be established. Tamiahua is the principal fishing town upon the gulf coast, from which upwards of 250,000 lbs. of fish are annually sent to Puebla and Mexico, transported on the backs of mules. These fish are varieties of the skate, tream, and shrimps, "liza," "robalo," and "camaron." Climate. The climate is tropical, and the low grounds upon the coast are subject to the usual bilious, intermittent, and other fevers incident to that latitude, and formerly the "black vomit" was almost constantly to be found at Very Cruz, seldom, however, invading the other parts of the coast. Within the last ten years, however, owing to the improvement in the sanitory regulations of that port, this disease has assumed a milder character, and is at present more successfully checked by all physicians. Within a distance of some 30 or 40 miles from the coast the temperature delightfully moderates near the commencement of the hilly country, remarkable for its excellent water and picturesque scenery. Seaports.-The only seaport in the State is Vera Cruz, where foreign vessels with cargoes are permitted to enter for sale, or deposit. All other ports, as Tuspeminautla, Tecolutla, Alvarado, and Goatzacoalcos,* are for national coasting only, whilst all foreign vessels after landing their cargoes and paying tonnage duties at any open ports, as Matamoros, Tampico, and Tabasco, or Vera Cruz, may proceed to any of the above named smaller ones for purchasing and loading country produce, and can sail thence to foreign parts. Soil. The whole country abounds with the choicest of tropical products, and the soil throughout nearly the entire State is of such fertile and peculiar rich nature, that it requires but little care, and less labor, of an enterprising agriculturist, to procure the most astonishing results. There are also large pastures to be found on the banks of rivers and open plains, generally set fire to before the rainy season sets in, when cattle flock to the neighboring woods and feed on fruit dropping from the trees. *Since above written, Goatzacoalcos has been made a port of entry. Products.-The following articles are the principal products of the country: Indigo. This plant grows wild, and hardly any attention is paid to its cultivation but in the States of Oaxaca and Chiapas. Sarsaparilla.-Sarsaparilla grows plentifully in the woods, several thousand quintals were formerly carried by the natives to the smaller seaports, selling from $4 to $5 per 100 lbs., and 20 lbs. tare, and then forwarded to Tampico and Vera Cruz, for export, at prices ranging from $63 to $10 per quintal, but the demand as well as its value having materially declined, only small quantities come forward at present. Jalapa root-called Purga de Jalapa-grows principally on the high mountains in the States of Puebla and Mexico, as Huachinango, Hualla, Cocotla, Zacoaltipam, Santana, Tianguistengo, and Molango; but it is also raised in the cold regions near Cordova and Huatusco. The jalap root is generally collected by the Indians during the month of September, until November, when they dig out the root and dry it by smoke. It is then taken to the neighboring small villages and disposed of to shopkeepers at 1 a 14 reals per lb., and finally brought by mules to Tampico and Vera Cruz in lots of 25 to 200 quintals, at prices varying from $32 to $40 per quintal. Vanilla of the family of Vejucos-grows wild in different parts of this State, but considerable cultivation is carried on in the counties of Mizantla and Papantla, from which some 13 to 2 millions of beans are annually exported, chiefly to France. The increased demand and steady prices abroad invariably cause a great flutter among the planters and speculators who reside among the Indians during the gathering of the crop, from the month of November until January, and the raw fruit is often paid for on the spot above the quotations of the article abroad. The utmost care, combined with long years of practical experience, is necessary to preserve the raw and green Vanilla, for one single bean badly cured will easily spoil a bundle of 50, and often cause the loss of a whole case of several thousand beans. The prices paid by these local speculators, who generally make heavy advances 8 to 9 months previous to the crop, are very fluctuating, and range from $40 to $60, and sometimes even as high as $100 per 1,000 beans, according to size and quality. The best season for planting Vanilla is during January and February, when the trees are entirely freed from all undergrowth and creepers; a small piece of cane or vine of Vejuco is fastened on the foot of a tree in a straight i. e. perpendicular manner, say close to it, and within a few weeks this |