Page:Mexico in 1827 Vol 2.djvu/259

Rh Rēy. I found the Thetis still at her anchorage, but was prevented from embarking by a violent Norte, which, with other circumstances, compelled me to remain at Veracruz for nearly a week. Fortunately, the season was healthy, and the firing from the Castle at an end; a suspension of hostilities having taken place in consequence of both parties being tired of such desultory warfare. I lodged at the house of Mr. Smith, (subsequently appointed His Majesty's Vice-Consul,) which was exactly opposite the great battery of San Juan de Uloa, and bore evidence to the precision with which the guns had been brought to bear upon the town, by the number of shots which had gone through it. It must have been a very uncomfortable residence, from what I saw of the effect produced by the opening of the batteries one evening, during my stay, which was sufficiently unpleasant to have induced me to seek other quarters immediately, had not the violence of a Norte without rendered it impossible to think of a change of abode. Nothing can be more melancholy than the appearance of Veracruz during one of these winds. The air is filled with sand, and the sky darkened with clouds, while the waves are driven with such impetuosity upon the beach, that the whole line of coast is one sheet of foam. All communication between the shipping and the town is suspended, even when at anchor under the walls of the Castle, which are not half a mile from the pier-head. The rapidity with which