Page:Appleton's Guide to Mexico.djvu/182

154 Conquest of Mexico, vol. i, p. 229, says: "Little did the Conqueror imagine that the desolate beach on which he first planted his foot, was one day to be covered by a flourishing city, the great mart of European and Oriental trade, the commercial capital of New Spain."

At the present day about two thirds of Mexican commerce passes through the port of Vera Cruz. The imports

are increasing rapidly, those of 1882 being nearly fifty per cent greater than those of 1881.

An excursion may be made to Jalapa, sixty miles distant, by tramway. It is said that the railroad between this town and Vera Cruz will be completed on January 1, 1884.

has a population of 12,400, and an elevation of 4,335 feet. (Hotels, Nacional and Vera Cruzano.) The