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172 O'Gorman, now His Majesty's Consul-General in Mexico, Mr. Mackenzie, who resided for some time as Consul at Jalapa, Mr. Thompson, Secretary to the Commission, Dr. Mair, and myself. Our voyage was monotonously prosperous; it is therefore only necessary to state that we embarked at Plymouth, on the 18th of October, 1823, on board His Majesty's ship Thetis, commanded by Sir John Phillimore, and anchored off the island of Sacrificios on the llth of December, being prevented from entering the harbour of Vera Cruz, by the hostilities which had commenced, about two months before, between the town and the Castle of San Juan de Uloa.

On the passage we only touched at Madeira, where we passed four delightful days.

This island forms a connecting link between the Old and the New World, and possesses many of the characteristics of both. The curtain of vines, which extends over the whole face of the mountain above Funchal, and rises gradually to the foot of the eminence, upon which the Convent of Nuestra Señora de la Soledad is situated, is worthy of Italy or Andalusia; while the Interior recalls, at one moment, the volcanic remains so frequent in America, and at another, the striking scenery of Switzerland or the Tyrol.

This again contrasts singularly with the minor beauties of cultivation in the vicinity of the town: the trellices extending across the steep, paved road, the walls of which are covered with the Camellia