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 MEXICO. 167 Amistan, (seven leagues in extent,) which is even now ac- knowledged by the most scientific men of the day to be a very extraordinary work. From Amistan, he proceeded, on the 7th of September, to Playa Vicente, a dep6t for the Vera- cruz merchants in their trade with Oaxaca : there he was overtaken by a Royalist force of eleven hundred men, under Colonel Topete, which he defeated on the 10th of September, having selected so favourable a position for the engagement, that it more than compensated for the inferiority of his own numbers. But finding that his plan for occupying Guasa- coalco was discovered, he returned to Tehiiacan, where a force of 4,000 men, under Colonel Bracho, was detached against him by the Viceroy, by which he was besieged in Cerro Colorado, and ultimately compelled to surrender that fortress, on the 21st of January, 1817- Teran lived in obscurity, and under the strictest surveil- lance, at La Puebla, (his life having been secured by the capitulation), until the second Revolution of 1821. He has since been Minister of War, (in 1823,) and was appointed by the President, Minister Plenipotentiary in Eng- land, in 1825. This choice was disapproved of by the Se- nate, some of the members of which body were induced, by feelings (I fancy) of a personal nature, to establish what was generally regarded as a very dangerous precedent, by raking up old revolutionary stories, and urging against Teran the dissolution of the Congress, in 1815, as a disqualification for public employment, without reflecting how few men there are, at present, in Mexico, whose conduct, during that stormy period, could support a rigorous investigation. During the last two years, Teran has led a very retired life, occupied principally with scientific pursuits, and the mathematics, in which he has always excelled. As an engi- neer, and military chief, few amongst the old Insurgents could be compared with him. His division was always remarkable for its discipline, and