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476 and since the building of the new town of Tămăulīpăs, which, from being upon a more elevated spot than the old town (Pueblo Viejo) of Tampico, is less subject to the vomito, there is every appearance of a rapid increase in this branch of commercial intercourse.

The foreign trade of San Luis is, at present, almost entirely in the hands of Old Spaniards or North Americans. In 1826, there was not a single French or English house established there, although France had appointed a commercial agent to reside in the town; for which office Mr. Martin had selected Don Ignacio Soria, a very respectable man, and one of the deputies in the Legislature of the State, The European imports consisted principally in French brandies, wines, silks, and cloths; English hardware and printed cotton goods; with some "mantas," or ordinary cotton manufactures from the United States. Most of these articles were originally smuggled in, through Tampico, in American bottoms; for, until the commencement of the year 1825, there was no custom-house north of Veracruz; and this advantage rendered competition on the part of the merchants of the Capital, who paid the duties established by the Tariff, impossible. Prices have risen at San Luis in proportion as the facilities for smuggling have diminished; but there are still openings enough for the contraband trader on a line of coast three hundred leagues in extent, and there are few articles of foreign manufacture that may not be