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of their  heads  ao-ainst  that  of  the  cutwater. Here a large  turtle  is  seen  floating  in  the  water,  yonder  a huge,  snorting  blackfish  goes  plunging  by,  and  over beyond a  whale  up-blowing  his  waterspout. Sea-birds circling and  swooping  hither  and  thither  watch  the ship's wake  for  their  breakfast.

There are  three  Mexican  ports  between  Acapulco and the  gulf  of  California  at  which  the  Panama steamers sometimes  touch,  Manzanillo,  some  four hundred nciles  north  of  Acapulco,  San  Bias,  about  a hundred  and  fifty  miles  above  Manzanillo,  and  Mazat- lan, opposite  Cape  St  Lucas,  a  hundred  miles  or  so above  San  Bias. Manzanillo is  a  liamlet  of  perhaps three hundred  severally  tinted  inhabitants,  the  sea- port of Colima,  a  fine  city  about  seventy-five miles inland. On a  clear  day  is  seen  the  volca- no of Colima,  the  monarch  spit-fire  of  the  coast, whose crest,  thirteen  tliousand  feet  in  height,  is nearly  always  covered  with  snow. Leaving Las Tres Marias  island  on  the  left,  we  approach  the lofty mountains  bounding  the  roadstead  of  San Bias. The ship  anchors  some  distance  from  the town, which  consists  of  three  or  four  hundred  adobe and rudely  thatched  palmetto-roofed  houses,  situated along narrow  irregular  sandy  streets,  and  a  dilapi- dated fort standinp"  on  a  hia;h  rock  behind  it.  The picturesque  port  of  Mazatlan  is  protected  from  the otherwise  unbroken  swells  of  the  ocean  by  a  chain  of rocks,  or  surf-scarred  islands,  against  and  between which  the  sea  dashes  into  foam.  The  anchorage within  is  safe,  except  from  southeast  gales.  On  ap- proaching the  harbor,  the  entrance,  scarred  and  hewn in  the  dark  red  cliffs,  opens  to  view,  and  across  the green  transparent  water  shines  the  city  like  a  white picture,  with  a  dim  background  of  mountain  blue. Mazatlan  is  the  most  important  Mexican  sea-port  on the  Pacific,  and  displays  unmistakable  evidence  of commercial  activity  and  thrift.  The  population  is 12,000  or  15,000,  the  climate  healthy,  the  houses  sub-