Page:Mexico (1829) Volumes 1 and 2.djvu/272

 234 MEXICO. to reach the Table-land. There, the struggle would com- mence anew ; and such is the horror entertained at present, of foreign domination, that I am convinced that a levy en masse of the whole population would be the consequence of any hostile aggression. How formidable this might prove, in a country where the distances are too great to admit of lines of communication being kept up, and where the greatest part of the inhabitants are admirable horsemen, and not un- accustomed to partizan warfare, it is needless to point out : but I do not think that the most formidable expeditionary army that Spain could furnish, would have the slightest chance of success. It might desolate a portion of the country, and throw it back fifty years in the career of civilization, but few would live to tell the tale, and little encouragement would be given for a second attempt. Mexico possesses only five fortresses, St. John of UUoa, Campeche, Per5te, Acapiilco, and San Bias. In most of them the works are in a bad state, but there is little prospect of their being necessary. The Government has published a table of the quantity of arms of all kinds now in its possession ; that is, either dis- tributed to the troops, or in the public magazines, which I subjoin. (No 3.) Most of the muskets, sabres, pistols, and lances, have been purchased during the last three years, and are in very good order. The brass artillery, too, which is all Spanish, is beau- tiful ; but many of the iron guns are, probably, unfit for service. The sum total is formidable, and amply sufficient for the defence of the country.