THE STATE OF VERA CRUZ.

Vera Cruz has a great length of seaboard, lying on the Gulf of Mexico between the Rio Panuco on the north and the Rio Coatzacualco on the south, and extending inland to the margin of the high plateau or table-land. From Vera Cruz to Perote is only one day's journey, and in that short space and time the traveller experiences the suffocating heats of the coast and all the intervening climates to the poles. The lower parts of this state are almost a desert, and contain little else than sands and marshes, placed under a burning climate. Large quantities of sugar, cotton, tobacco, and other tropical products, flourish here in the greatest luxuriance. Proceeding inland the soil and climate changes, and the cereals and many of the plants and vegetables of temperate regions grow to perfection, and still further as we approach the highlands the country is covered with forests.

The beautiful town of VERA CRUZ, the capital of the state and centre of a wealthy trade, which, in time of peace, Mexico keeps up with Europe and America, owes nothing to the kindness of nature, and the harbor is a mere roadstead. Latitude 19° 11′52′′ N., and longitude 96° 8' 45" W. The town is well built, and its towers, cupolas and battlements give it an imposing appearance from the sea. It is, however, surrounded by barren sand hills and ponds of stagnant water, and is exceedingly unhealthy, being, in fact, the principal seat of the yellow fever. The older inhabitants, or those accustomed to the climate, are not so subject to this formidable visitation as strangers, all of whom, even if coming from the Havanna and the West India Islands, are liable to the infection. No precautions prevent its attacks, and numerous individuals have died at Jalapa on the road to Mexico, who merely passed through this pestilential focus. The badness of the water at Vera Cruz is supposed to have some share in producing the complaint. The houses of Vera Cruz are mostly large, some of them being three stories high, built in the old Spanish or Moorish style, and generally enclosing a square court with covered galleries. They have flat roofs, glass windows, and generally wooden balconies in front, their interior arrangements being the same as in Old Spain. The town and castle are built of madrepore, the lime which forms the cement being of the same material. There is one tolerably good square, of which the government house forms one side and the principal church another. The foot paths are frequently under arcades. No fewer than sixteen cupoias or domes used to be counted from the sea, but only six churches are now in use; and most of the religious buildings have been neglected or abandoned since the Spaniards were expelled from the town. Rain-water is carefully preserved in tanks; and most sorts of provisions, except fish, are dear. Crowds of vultures and buzzards perform the office of scavengers. (Bullock in Mod. Trav., xxv.)

The Castle of San Juan d'Ulloa, which commands the town, is built on the small island of the same name, about 400 fathoms from the shore. It is a strong citadel, and its northwest angle supports a lighthouse with a brilliant revolving light 79 feet above the sea. The harbor of Vera Cruz is a mere roadstead between the town and castle, and is exceedingly insecure, the anchorage being so very bad that no vessel is considered safe unless made fast to brass rings, fixed for the purpose, in the castle wall; nor are these always a sufficient protection during strong north winds. But not

standing its numerous disadvantages, Vera Cruz maintains its commer

cial importance; though latterly Tampico, in a healthier situation, with a better port, has been growing into consequence.

During the period that the foreign trade of Mexico was carried on exclusively by the flota, which sailed periodically from Cadiz, Vera Cruz was celebrated for its "Fair," held on the arrival of the ships. It was then crowded with dealers from Mexico and most parts of Spanish America; but the abolition of the system of regular fleets, in 1778, proved fatal to this fair, as well as to the still more celebrated fair at Porto Bello. The national road from Vera Cruz to Mexico is one of the best highways in the world, and the National Bridge between Jalapa and the port is one of the finest specimens of bridge-building extant.

Vera Cruz was founded in the latter part of the 16th century, on the spot where Cortez first landed. Previously, however, there had been a small town which was called by Cortez himself Villa Rica de la Vera Cruz. It received the title and privileges of a city from Philip III., in 1615. The castle was taken by a French squadron in 1829, but was soon after abandoned and restored to the Mexicans. In 1847 it was again captured by the Americans under General Scott, and held until the ratification of peace. The city was much improved in police and health during the occupation. JALAPA is situated in a delightful and elevated district 4,000 feet above the sea. It has 12,000 inhabitants, and is much frequented by the higher classes from Vera Cruz during the sickly season. The surrounding country is covered with dense forests, and is particularly remarkable for the medicinal article-jalap, from which the city takes its name. The ports of ALVARADO and COATZACUALCO on the south, are interesting only from their associations; the first was the principal entrepôt in the gulf during the occupation of Vera Cruz by the Spaniards, and has since become famed, as having been taken by Lieutenant Hunter, U. S. N. in 1847, and garrisoned by three men! and the latter derives some interest as being the eastern terminus of the proposed route across the isthmus of Tehuantepec.

THE STATE OF MEXICO,

COMPRISES a large district of fertile and elevated land, between Mechoacan and Queretaro on the north-west, and La Puebla on the south-east, extending from the western confines of Vera Cruz to the shores of the Pacific Ocean. Its area covers a superficies of about 25,000 square miles, on which is a population of 1,389,520 souls. Within these boundaries all the higher intelligences of the confederation concentrate, and arts and industry attain their culminating point.

The City of Mexico and some small amount of territory around it, constitutes the "Federal District," within the bounds of which the National Congress is supreme-the State of Mexico having no jurisdiction therein.

The city itself, formerly called Tenochtitlan, is the federal capital and seat of the supreme government of the nation. Latitude 19° 25′ 40′′ N., longitude 101° 25′ 30′′ W. Elevation 7,426 feet above the sea. Population, 300,000 ?

Mexico stands nearly in the centre of an elevated plain surrounded by mountains, and having an area of 1,700 square miles, one tenth of which

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is covered by four lakes, the largest of which, Tezcnco, has an area of 77 square miles. The city when taken by Cortez was built on a group of islands in this lake; but the modern city, occupying its site, owing to natural causes and drainage, is 24 miles from its shores. The ground on which it stands, as might be anticipated, is low and swampy, and the largest buildings are erected on piles, and the roads leading thereto are " causeways," elevated from 8 to 10 feet above the common surface. Though within the tropics, it is so elevated that its mean temperature is only 650 Fahr., coincident with that of May and September in the middle United States, and the climate throughout the year is extremely moderate and generally healthy. "Mexico," says Humboldt, " undoubtedly is one of the finest cities ever built by Europeans on either hemisphere; being inferior only to St. Petersburg, Berlin, London and Philadelphia, as respects the regularity and breadth of its streets, as well as the extent of its public places." The architecture is generally of a very fine style, and many buildings are of truly noble construction, though usually somewhat of plain exterior. Two sorts of hewn stone, porous amygdaloid and porphyry, are used in the better parts of the city. The balustrades and gates are of Biscay iron, ornamented with bronze; and the houses, which are three or four stories high, have flat terraced roofs, like those of Italy and other southern countries, and open court yards surrounded by colonades and ornamented with plants, &c. Numbers of houses are covered with glazed porcelain in a variety of elegant designs and patterns, and the interior of the principal apartments is showily painted in mosaic and arabesque.

The Plaza Mayor, or grand square, is one of the finest to be seen in any metropolis; its east side is occupied by the cathedral and segrario or parish church, and its north side by the national palace, while on the other sides are handsome rows of shops and private dwellings. In its centre is a colossal statue of Charles IV., said to be the finest work of the kind in the New World. The national palace, a fine building, nearly square, with a front several hundred feet in extent, comprises four large courts, in which are the public offices, barracks, prison, and a large botanic garden; but almost every part of it is falling to decay. In this building also is the mint of Mexico. The cathedral, on the site of the great temple of the Aztec god Mexitli, is a heterogeneous edifice; one part of the front is low and of bad Gothic architecture, while the other and more modern part is in the Italian style, and displays much symmetry and beauty; its two towers are ornamented with pilasters and statues. The interior is imposing, lofty and magnificent; but the grandeur of the effect is much diminished by ponderous erections in different parts, and a profusion of massive carved ornaments, pictures and painted statues. The high altar and appendages are enclosed by a massive railing of mixed metal; so valuable on account of the gold it contains, that a silversmith of Mexico is alleged to have offered the bishop a new silver rail of equal weight in return for the old metal! In the interior also are some curious remains, including several idols and a "stone of sacrifice," that is, a stone on which the human victim was placed when the priest tore out his heart! On the outer wall is fixed the "Kalenda," a circular stone of basaltic porphyry, covered with hieroglyphic figures, by which the Aztecs used to designate the months of the year, and which is supposed to have formed a kind of perpetual calendar, (Latrobe. p. 175-'7; Ward, ii. 48.) guments of antiquity, however, remain; and we may echo the ex

Ant. de Gama, the first among Mexican antiquaries, " Quantos amentos de la antiquedad, por falta de intelligenza, habran

perecido en esta mañera." How many precious monuments of antiquity have perished through ignorance of their value! In this edifice the church services are celebrated with great magnificence; nor even in seven-hilled Rome herself is greater attention paid to the external minutiæ of religious observances. There are 50 or 60 other churches, scarcely less magnificent than the cathedral, displaying more or less the barbarous mixture of style that characterized Spanish architecture during the 16th and 17th centuries; there are also numerous religious houses, the establishments of some of which are very extensive and wealthy. The palace of the Inquisition, now applied to more useful purposes, is very elegant, exhibiting little or no appearance of the purposes for which it was intended. This tribunal was abolished by Iturbide in 1822.

Among the other remarkable public buildings of the city, the Mineria, though now in a dilapidated state, occupies the first rank. It is large and handsome, but either from defect in the foundations or from the effect of earthquakes, its front is evidently out of perpendicular. It contains a respectable, but ill arranged collection of minerals; and lectures on engineering and chemistry are sometimes given to students. The academy of fine arts, the university and public libraries, are in a similar state of confusion and neglect. The acordada or public prison, is a large substantial structure, fitted to contain 1,300 prisoners; the barracks, also, formerly used as a hospital, are extensive and well constructed. The theatre is a respectable building of considerable size; but the establishment has for some years had so little success, that it may be said that theatricals do not exist, and the establishment is seldom required. The Plaza del Toros, for the exhibition of bull fights, consists of a great circular enclosure, and can conveniently accommodate 3,000 spectators. The great national manufactory of tobacco stands in the south-west angle of the city; it is an immense establishment, and supplies the whole legitimate demand of the confederation for cigars.

The promenade conveniences of the city are truly a feature of Mexico. The Alameda, or public walk, at the west end, somewhat resembles a park, but has the stiff, formal appearance of Dutch and French grounds. In the centre is a magnificent fountain. Another open space, called the Passeo, about two miles in length, planted with double rows of trees, is much frequented on holidays by persons in carriages and on horseback. In the city, also, are several portales, or covered colonades, lined with shops and stalls, and forming a favorite evening promenade. The environs, also, present on Friday evenings a very lively scene of bustle and gaiety; hundreds of canoes, of various sizes, mostly with awnings, and crowded with native Indians and Meztizos, are seen passing in every direction along the canals, each boat with its guitar-player at the stern, and some of the party either singing or dancing.

The manufactures carried on in the city and vicinity are not generally remarkable either for extent or fineness of workmanship. Nothing is exposed in the store windows, and most of the articles are made in the places where they are offered for sale. Gold and silver lace trimmings, epaulettes, &c., are made in great perfection; silversmith work and chasing are also well done. Jewelry and lapidary's work is made at great expense. Cabinet-ware is extremely dear, and inferior, being made with clumsy tools and bad woods; the saw is scarcely known, and the turning-lathe is of the most primitive construction. Coach-making is better understood, and extensively carried on. Hats and cloaks are made on a large scale, but are sold at high prices. Soap is a staple manufacture. Men, not women, are the mil

ENT MILIÐA Y SEE twenty or thirty strong, able fellows, 12 astering or drey-work, employed in decoraunc trimming caps and flounces! stems and the bread, which is excelses, which class also perform the or de suit of page, a kind of beer as frances, are very common, and

mong the day; but after sunset, young and or menghires, and the Alameda, Passeo, and Ides 124 sets of the city, chatting and Many Deutemen belonging to the higher Sod of literature; but the city is so cher me as of study, as to give little enThere are three or four newspapers; but es, erenang little besides the merest chitdat advertisements. The white Creoles are - 1: 12688, Courtesy, and hospitality; their besetting