18^28. 



PACIFIC AND BEERING'S STRAIT. 325 



tation, and on that occasion I carried with me the chap. 

 . .... vii. 



necessary instruments for determining its position ; by '^-_^^_ 



which it appears that it is only twenty-two miles direct Ma'ch, 



from the port, though by the road it is fifty-two. It 



is in latitude 21° 30' 42" N., and its height above the 



sea 2,900 feet. By a register kept there during our 



stay, its mean temperature was 8°.l below that of San 



Bias, and the range 2^.8 greater. 



Tepic is the second town in importance in Xalisco, 

 now called Guadalaxara, and contains 8000 inhabitants; 

 but this population is augmented to about 11,000 in 

 the unhealthy season upon the coast, at which time the 

 people resort to Tepic. The town stands in the 

 lowest part of a plain nearly surrounded by moun- 

 tains, and not far from a large lake which exhales a 

 malaria fatal to those who attempt to live upon its 

 banks. On hot sunny days, of which there are many, 

 the clouds as they pass often envelope the town, and 

 strike a chill which proves fatal to hundreds of persons 

 in the course of the year ; and immediately the sun has 

 set behind the mountains a cold deposit takes place, 

 which is so great that it soon wets a person through. 

 Under these circumstances Tepic is itself scarcely 

 more healthy than the sea coast, and by the records 

 of the Church it appears that the deaths exceed the 

 births. 



About a league and a half from Tepic, at the foot 

 of Mount San Juan, stands Xalisco, near the site of 

 the ancient town of that name. This town, though so 

 close to Tepic, is very salubrious. I had the curiosity 

 to examine the parish books here, in order to compare 

 them with those at Tepic, and found the births to 

 exceed the deaths in the proportion eighty-four to 

 nineteen. In a population of only 3000, there were 



