Page:Mexico (1829) Volumes 1 and 2.djvu/266

 228 MEXICO. to the Interior, is neither able, nor called upon, to undertake the defence of her territory at a distance from her own shores. Her squadron, (such as it is) is under the orders of Com- modore Porter ; who, ignorant probably of the very superior force assembled by the Spaniards at the Havana, under Ad- miral Laborde, threatened to blockade that port, and, by destroying the trade of the island of Cuba, to compel the Spanish Government to come to some understanding with its former Colonies. The fallacy of these expectations was soon demonstrated, and Porter, unable to keep the sea a moment before Laborde"'s fleet, which consists of six really fine frigates, and two ships of the line, besides some smaller vessels, was forced to take refuge in Key West, . from whence he did not for some time extricate himself. The attempt upon the Havana was injudicious, as with so feeble a force, it could hardly, under any circumstances, have led to a decisive result. As it is, it has only served to intro- duce a system of privateering, which will increase the irrita- tion of the Mother country, and probably lead to reprisals upon the Mexican coasts, without producing any one good effect. A little time will, however, convince the Mexicans that a few light vessels, to check smuggling, and keep up the com- munication between the different points of the coast, is all that they require ; and the country will then be saved a very considerable, and a very useless expense. The Army. The Republic of Mexico is divided into eighteen Coman- dancias Generales, or districts, each under the orders of a Military Commandant, who receives his instructions, not from the government of the State in which he resides, but from the Minister of War