Page:Pictures of life in Mexico Vol 2.djvu/61

Rh is it stopped and plundered by bands of ladrones.

The harbour of Tampico is nearly as unhealthy as that of Vera Cruz and more incommodious. There is a bar at the entrance of Boca del Rio, and another at Brazo de Santiago. It is most suitable for brigs and comparatively small vessels, though some of the rivers which flow into it are navigable. The country round Tampico is very fresh and inviting, immediately after the rainy season. There are a number of most picturesque haciendas (farm-houses) at a little distance over the mountains. The road, as you proceed, becomes exceedingly rocky and precipitous; and in some districts the atmosphere is so arid, that animal matter has a tendency to shrink and dry on exposure to it. Nearer the port, however, numerous forests of fine oak trees are to be found; and groves of iron-wood and fustic meet the eye in every direction.

The port of Matamoras is no less than forty miles distant from the town, which contains the custom-house. There are two harbours, one formed by the Rio Bravo del Norte, called Brazo de Santiago, and the other, Boca del Rio: the last-named being nine miles south of