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 1837.] house of affliction, he had most kindly made arrangements for the accommodation of all our party.

The funeral, which took place the following day, was very splendid, and attended by all the rank and respectability of Tepic; indeed the loss appeared a public calamity; so entirely was the deceased the idol of this small community, every family seemed to participate in it; nor did they regain their spirits during our stay.

Having made the necessary observations for proving the longitude of Tepic, and completed my affairs with the Consul, we started for San Blas at half-past three the following morning, and reached the beach at four in the afternoon. Passing through the town of San Blas, it being my first visit since 1828, I was astonished at its utter desolation. It seemed like another Pompeii, or the tomb of a city, compared to what I had witnessed in 1828.

In the square, which at that period had every door open, not three human beings were to be seen; and on the market evening, (Saturday,) when I certainly expected to have found some little remnant of former gay scenes, not one hundredth of the numbers were assembled.

It is truly melancholy to witness such changes. I fear its fate is sealed, and nothing but a pile of ruins will mark this once gay spot, particularly as the main road now passes beneath the hill, and the houses at the beach have increased.

That same evening I took my departure, the ship