plains. A great part of the vast kingdom of New Spain belongs to the most fertile regions of the earth. The declivity of the Cordillera is exposed to humid winds and frequent fogs; and the vegetation nourished with these aqueous vapours exhibits an uncommon beauty and strength. The humidity of the coasts, assisting the putrefaction of a great mass of organic substances, gives rise to maladies, to which Europeans and others not seasoned to the climate are alone exposed; for under the burning sun of the tropics the unhealthiness of the air almost always indicates extraordinary fertility of soil. Thus at Vera Cruz the quantity of rain in a year amounts to 1",62*, while in France it scarcely amounts to 0,80 t. Yet with the exception of a few sea-ports and deep vallies, where the natives suffer from intermittent fevers, New Spain ought to be considered as a country remarkably salubrious.

The inhabitants of Mexico are less disturbed by earthquakes and volcanic explosions than the inhabitants of Quito, and the provinces of Guatimala and Cumana. There are only five burning volcanoes in all New Spain, Orizaba, Popocatepetl, and the mountains of Tustla, Jorullo, and Colima. Earthquakes, however, are by no means rare on the coast of the Pacific Ocean, and in the environs of the capital; but they never produce such desolating

* 63.780 inches. Trans.

† 37.496 inches. Trans.

effects as have been witnessed in the cities of Lima, Riobamba, Guatimala, and Cumana. On the 14th September, 1759, a horrible catastrophe took place: the volcanos of Jorullo burst, and was seen surrounded with an innumerable multitude of small smoking cones. Subterraneous noises, so

much the more alarming as they were followed by no phenomenon, were heard at Guanaxuato in the month of January 1784. All these phenomena seem to prove, that the country between the parallels of 13° and 22° contains an active internal fire, which pierces, from time to time, through the crust of the globe, even at great distances from the sea shore.

The physical situation of the city of Mexico possesses inestimable advantages, if we consider it in the relation of its communication with the rest of the civilized world. Placed on an isthmus, washed by the South Sea and Atlantic Ocean, Mexico appears destined to possess a powerful influence over the political events which agitate the two continents. A king of Spain resident in the capital of Mexico, might transmit his orders in five weeks to the Peninsula in Europe, and in six weeks to the Philippine islands in Asia. The vast kingdom of New Spain, under a careful cultivation, would alone produce all that commerce collects together from the rest of the globe, sugar, cochineal, cacao, cotton, coffee, wheat, hemp, flax, silk, oils, and wine. It would furnish every metal with

VOL. I.

Superb tim

out even the exception of mercury. ber and an abundance of iron and copper would favour the progress of Mexican navigation; but the state of the coasts and the want of ports from the mouth of the Rio Alvarado to the mouth of the Rio Bravo, oppose obstacles in this respect which would be difficult to overcome.

These obstacles, it is true, do not exist on the coast of the Pacific Ocean. San Francisco in New California, San Blas in the intendancy of Guadalaxara, near the mouth of the river Santiago,. and especially Acapulco, are magnificent ports. The last, probably formed by a violent earthquake, is one of the most admirable basins in the whole world. In the South Sea there is only Coquimbo on the coast of Chili which can be compared with Acapulco; yet in winter, during great hurricanes, the sea becomes very rough in Acapulco. Farther south we find the port of Rialexo, in the kingdom of Guatimala, formed, like Guayaquil, by a large and beautiful river. Sonzonate is very much frequented during the fine season, but it is merely an open road like Tehuantepec, and is consequently very dangerous in winter. When we examine the eastern coast of New Spain we see that it does not

advantages as the western coast.

possess the same We have already

observed, that, properly speaking, it possesses no port; for Vera Cruz, by which an annual com

merce of fifty or sixty millions of piastres is car

ried on, is merely a bad anchorage between the shallows of la Caleta, la Gallega, and la Lavandera. The physical cause of this disadvantage is easily discovered. The coast of Mexico, along

the Mexican gulf, may be considered as a dike against which the trade winds, and perpetual mo. tion of the waves from east to west, throw up the sands which the agitated ocean carries along. This current of rotation runs along South America from Cumana to the isthmus of Darien; it ascends towards Cape Catoche, and after whirling a long time in the Mexican gulf, issues through the canal of Florida, and flows towards the banks of Newfoundland. The sands heaped up by the vortices of the waters, from the peninsula of Yucatan to the mouths of the Rio del Norte and the Mississipi, insensibly contract the basin of the Mexican gulf. Geological facts of a very remarkable nature prove this increase of the continent; we see the ocean every where retiring. M. Ferrer found near Sotto la Marina, to the east of the small town of New Santander, ten leagues in the interior of the country, moving sands filled with sea shells. I myself observed the same thing in the environs of Antigua and New Vera Cruz. The rivers which descend from the Sierra Madre and enter the Atlantic Ocean have in no small degree contributed to increase the sand banks. It is curious to observe that the eastern coasts of Old and New Spain are equally disadvantageous for navigation.

The coast of New Spain, from the 18° to the 26° of latitude, abounds with bars; and vessels which draw more than 32 centimetres of water, cannot pass over any of these bars, without danger of grounding. Yet obstacles like these, so unfavourable for commerce, would at the same time facilitate the defence of the country against the ambitious projects of a European conqueror.

The inhabitants of Mexico, discontented with the port of Vera Cruz, if we may give the name of port to the most dangerous of all anchorages, entertain the hope of finding out surer channels for the commerce with the mother country. I shall merely name the mouths of the rivers Alvarado and Guasacualco to the south of Vera Cruz; and to the north of that city the Rio Tampico, and especially the village of Sotto la Marina, near the bar of Santander. These four points have long fixed the attention of the government; but even there, however advantageous in other respects, the sand banks prevent the entry of large vessels. These ports would require to be artificially corrected; but it becomes necessary in the first place to enquire if the localities are such as to warrant a belief that this expensive remedy would be durable in its effects. It is to be observed, however, that we still know too little of the coasts of New Santander and Texas, particu

*12,598, say 12 inches.