Page:Travels in Mexico and life among the Mexicans.djvu/181



ERHAPS I have sufficiently indicated the position of Palenque, and the way there, my object being merely to direct attention to this region so long forgotten; for it has not been half explored. As it is far from our purpose to penetrate the wilds of Central America in search of somewhat mythical cities, but more in accordance with the times to jog along in the beaten track of travel, we will return to the coast, to Tabasco.

Taking with him Marina, the Tabascan princess, as his mistress, (who soon became valuable as an interpreter, and subsequently saved the Spanish army from destruction,) and a number of other captives, Cortes sailed westward and northward. Over the same route, though perhaps a little farther off shore, the steamers to-day take their course to Vera Cruz. About midway between Frontera and the port of Vera Cruz, the river Coatzcoalcos flows into the Gulf. This in itself were of no consequence, but that it indicates the narrowest portion of the continent north of Panama. Regarding this isthmus of Tehuantepec, it would be difficult to write anything new at the present day, for it has been before the public for many years as a claimant for a canal. Long before the days of Humboldt, this narrowing of the continent had drawn to it the eyes of the world. Though surveys have demonstrated the impracticability of a ship canal, they have shown the feasibility, even necessity, for a railroad. The distance across the isthmus is but little over one hundred miles, and a depression in the Cordilleras renders the grades next to nothing. This road is one that assumes more than sectional importance, and rises to the dignity of an international highway. Although it is also one of