Page:Vol 3 History of Mexico by H H Bancroft.djvu/233

Rh and the Pájaro reef, and was of the same depth and width.

A larger and more sheltered harbor, named Anton Lizardo, was situated a few leagues to the south-east of Vera Cruz, and there appears to be no good reason why the latter was selected, except that the island of San Juan de Ulúa was a favorable spot for the construction of a fortress. No attempt was made to

improve it, and at the close of the eighteenth century it remained in the same condition as when first discovered by Grijalva in 1518.