Page:Mexico in 1827 Vol 1.djvu/598

568 Below San Miguel there are some fine estates, with mills to grind flour, worked by the water from the river, conveyed through canals, in order to give the necessary fall.

It may be well to mention, that although there are no inns in the towns, or indeed in the State, strangers, without any letters of introduction, are sure to be well received, and treated with attention during their stay. We had letters to the principal people in every place, and Mr. Escalante, my companion, was himself a native of Upper Sonora, and related to most of the oldest families in the country, so that we considered ourselves at home wherever we went. Our horses had been left at Mazatlan, and we had travelled from Guaymas with hired horses and mules, which we had engaged to send back from San Miguel.

The gentleman, at whose house we stayed in San Miguel, Don Victor Aguilar, has a fine Hacienda, about six leagues from the town, to which he sent for horses and mules, to convey ourselves and our luggage to our next friend's house at Babiacora, a distance of twenty-eight leagues: his wife and daughters busied themselves in putting up provisions and wine for the road, (for, in Sonora, one travels with a complete larder on a mule's back,) and when we attempted to make some return for this supply of mules and provisions, Don Victor told us they did not do things in that way in his country, where it afforded them infinite pleasure to welcome strangers, particularly foreigners who did their State the honour of a visit, and that the longer we stayed with them the greater would be their satisfaction. All being ready, after a good breakfast, we set out, and about five o'clock in the evening, arrived at a pretty town called Ures, (twelve leagues,) when the Alcalde gave us the ruins of a convent to sleep in. Ures is a very pretty town, the streets open and regular; in the centre there is a large square, with a church very substantially built of stone, and an extensive convent, built by the Jesuits, now in ruins. The town is situated on the southern bank of the river Sonora, which overflows and fertilizes a very extensive valley of uncommonly rich land, considered as the most productive district in the State. To the South of Ures there are vast plains, which extend to the Coast. To the north and east the country becomes mountainous; the ridges generally running from north to south, divided by the rivers Dolores,