182 INHABITANTS - PRODUCTIONS -TOWNS AND VILLAGES. states, is formed of Indians: and of the 70,000 people who are estimated to compose the population, it is probable that the majority is formed of the Mijes, Zoques and Cendales. Cacao, coffee, pepper, sugar, tamarinds, arrow-root, palmetto and some tobacco are cultivated; while indigo and vainilla grow wild in the forests among groves of oaks, cedars, mahogany and ironwood. The extensive wildernesses of Tabasco are filled with game and wild beasts, and the streams are full of excellent fish. Bees abound in the depths of the forests and yield abundant supplies of wild honey and wax. The capital of Tabasco is Villa Hermosa de Tabasco, or, as it is sometimes called, Villa de San Juan Bautista, which lies on the left bank of the Tabasco river twenty-four leagues from its mouth. It contains about 7,000 inhabitants, and is reached by vessels of light draft from the sea; but its chief commercial intercourse is carried on with adjoining states and with Guatemala. There are some other towns or villages worthy of mention; the principal of which are Usumasinta, Nacayuca, Tacotalpa, Teapa, Jalapa, Chontalpa, Jalpa, Cunduacan, Macuspana, Chiltepec, Santa Anna, Tonala, Acalpa, Chinameca, Tochla, Istapa or Ystapangahoya, San Fernando, Tapichulapa, and Obsolotan. CHAPTER II. BOUNDARIES OF VERA CRUZ-RIVERS, LAGUNES, MINERAL SPRINGS, OBSER MOUNTAIN-MAGNIFICENT VIEWS-DIFFICULTIES-THE CRATER EXTINCT ELEVATION OF THE MOUNTAIN-DESCENT.ANTIQUITIES IN THE STATE OF VERA CRUZ-RUINS AT PANUCO, CHACUACO, SAN NICOLAS, LA TRINIDAD-SMALL FIGURES.-PAPANTLA DESCRIPTION OF THE PYRAMID.-RUINS AT MAPILCA-PYRAMID AND TEMPLE AT TUSAPAN-ISLE OF SACRIFICIOS-MISANTLA-REMAINS NEAR PUENTE NACIONAL. TAMAULIPAS ERS, LAGUNES, CLIMATE, POPULATION, PRODUCTIONS, TOWNS.-ANTIQUITIES OF TAMAULIPASTOPILA-RANCHO DE LAS PIEDRASSCULPTURE- - REMAINS, ETC., ETC. BOUNDARIES, RIV THE State of Vera Cruz lies under the burning sky of the tropics between 17° 85' and 22° 17' of north latitude; and 96° 46' and 101° 21' west longitude from Paris. It is comprised within a long but somewhat narrow strip of territory along the Gulf of Mexico, running from the mouth of the Tampico river, in the north, to the 184 RIVERS -LAGUNES -MINERAL SPRINGS- POPULATION. Guasacualco and the boundaries of Tabasco, on the south. Its length is 166 leagues; its breadth, from 25 to 28; and it is estimated to contain an area of 5,000 square leagues. It is bounded eastwardly by the Gulf; south by Tabasco; north by Tamaulipas; and west and south-west by Oajaca, Puebla, Mexico, Queretaro and San Luis Potosi. The eastern part of the State is generally level, low and sandy; but, further inland, it gradually rises as the traveller leaves the arid and burning wastes of the coast, until the country is broken into an uninterrupted series of lofty mountains and beautiful vallies. The coasts of this State are rich in rivers, streams, inlets, and lagunes; but, unfortunately, they are either not navigable for any considerable distance, or are obstructed by bars at their mouths. Among these streams the following are chiefly to be noticed as of importance: The Rio Tampico, the Garzes, the Tuspan, the Cazones, the Tenistepec, the Jajalapam or Tecolutla, the Nautla, the Palmar, the Misantla, the Maguilmanapa, the Yeguascalco, the Actopan, the Chuchalaca, the Antigua, the Jamapa, the Rio Blanco, the San Juan or Alvarado, the Aquivilco, and the Gúasacualco which is a boundary stream between the States of Vera Cruz, Oajaca and Tabasco. The principal lagunes in the State of Vera Cruz are:-The Laguna de Tamiahua, the largest on this coast of Mexico, being ten leagues long and eight leagues broad. It has two mouths in the Gulf; —one at the bar of Tamiahua, and the other, further south near the mouth of the small stream of Tuspan. Between these mouths lies the island of Tuspan; while the two islands of Juan Ramirez and El Toro are found in the lake or lagune itself. The next lagune in importance is that of Tampico, four leagues long and three broad; and besides this, there are the Lagunas de Mandingo, of Alvarado, (which is subdivided into eight smaller lagunes,) of Catemaico, Alijoyúca, and Tenango. There are several mineral springs in this State, and at Atotonilco, near Calcahualco, in the district of Cordova, there are warm baths which are celebrated for their efficacy in nervous and rheumatic diseases. There are mineral waters also near the hacienda of Almágros, in the district of Acayucam, and other warm springs near Aloténgo in the district of Jalanzingo, whose qualities have not yet been ascertained by chemical analysis. The population has been estimated by recent writers at near 251,000; which distributed over the 5,000 square leagues will give about 50 inhabitants to the square league. According to our estimate in the chapter on population, the number may be set down at |