Page:Mexico, Aztec, Spanish and Republican, Vol 2.djvu/216

186 tunas, pears, watermelons, peaches, apricots, guyavas, grapes: mahogony, ebony, cedar, oak, dragon-blood, tamarinds, palms, dyewoods, and a thousand other plants, trees, shrubs, cereals and parasites, spring almost spontaneously from the soil, and render the necessary labor of man almost insignificant. After the strip of sandy sea-shore has been passed, and the country begins gradually to rise, health and rich vegetation follow the traveller's footsteps. He beholds on every side magnificent forests filled with majestic trees and illuminated by the splendid colors of flowers and buds. In the midst of these solitary folds among the mountains, farms and plantations are opened, which gleam with the freshest verdure of cane or corn; while over the levels, innumerable herds of cattle are fed from the mere fulness of the land, and without the necessary tending either of shepherds or vaqueros. An idea of this State's richness in cattle may be formed from the following account of the number it possessed in 1831,—the district of Jalapa being excluded from the list, inasmuch as there were no returns for that year:—

the total value of which, together with the cattle product of the canton of Jalapa, cannot be less than $2,000,000.

The principal cities, towns and villages of the State of Vera Cruz, are 1st, La Villa rica or La Villa Heroica de la Vera Cruz—the capital of the State; 2d, Tampico or Pueblo viejo de Tampico; 3d, Panuco; 4th, Tuspan; 5th, Misantla; 6th, Papantla. [On the road from the port of Vera Cruz to the western limit of the State, lie Paso de Ovejas, Puente del Rey or Puente Nacional, Plan del Rio, and El Encero, but these are small towns or villages of no great consideration.] 7th, Alvarado; 8th, Boca del Rio; 9th, Tlacotalpan; 10th, Cotastia ; 11th, Talascoyan; 12th, San Martin Acayucam; 13th, San Andres Tuxtla; 14th, Santiago Tuxtla; 15th, Soconusco ; 16th, Jaltipan ; 17th, Chinameca; 18th, Orizaba; 19th, Cordova; 20th, Cosamaloapam; 2lst, Aculzingo; 22d, Jalapa; 23d, Jalanzingo, and 24th, Perote.

The port of Vera Cruz lies in 19° 11' 52" north latitude, and 98° 29' 19" west longitude, from Paris, on a sandy plain,—