34 A GUIDE TO MEXICO. 



ROUTE V. 



SAN FRANCISCO, CAL., TO CITY OF MEXICO, via SOUTHERN 

 PACIFIC RAILROAD TO EL PASO, AND MEXICAN CENTRAL. 



Time, San Francisco to El Paso, 58 hours; El Paso to Mexico City, 60 hours = 118 hours. 

 Distance, San Francisco to El Paso, 1,286 miles; El Paso to Mexico City, 1,225 miles - 2,511 miles. 



At Benson, on Southern Pacific Railroad, connection is made with Guaymas, Gulf of California. 



Local fares by this route are ten cents per mile. 



ROUTE VL 



SAN FRANCISCO TO MEXICO (WEST COAST), via PACIFIC MAIL 



STEAMERS. 



Distance, San Francisco to Port of Mazatlan 1,165 miles. 



Distance, San Francisco to Manzanillo 1,456 miles. 



Distance, San Francisco to Acapulco 1,607 miles. 



Distance, San Francisco to Salina Cruz (Tehuantepec) 1,895 miles. 



Distance, San Francisco to San Jos^ (Guatemala) 2,196 miles. 



Distance, San Francisco to Panama (Isthmus) 3,198 miles. 



Distance, San Francisco to New York (touching at Mexican potts) 5, 220 miles. 



Time between San Francisco and New York, about twenty-nine days, — twenty days on the Pacific, and 

 nine on the Atlantic. 



Fares, the same as by rail across the continent. 



Acapulco is the finest port of Mexico on the Pacific, in the State of Guerrero, 

 about 190 miles south-west of Mexico City, in latitude north, 16° 55'; longitude, 

 99° 48' west. Population, 3,000. 



" It was not discovered," says R. A. Wilson, "when Cortes built, in Colima, the 

 vessels that went to search for a north-west passage ; but, when they had returned 

 from their fruitless search, they anchored in the mountain-girt harbor of Acapulco. 

 The discoveries of the celebrated navigator Magellan fixed the commercial char- 

 acter and importance of this seaport. He had sailed through the straits that 

 bear his name, and coasted northwardly as far as the Trades, and from thence 

 he bore away to the Spice Islands, discovering on the voyage the Philippine 

 Islands, where the city of Manila was founded. By this voyage he demonstrated 

 that the advantages of a route across the Pacific were so superior to a voyage 

 around Cape Horn, as to justify the expense of a land transit from Acapulco to 

 Vera Criu, and reshipment to Spain. 



"The practical advantage of this discovery was the establishment of the annual 

 Manila galleon, in which was sent out $1,000,000 to purchase Oriental products 

 for the consumption of Spain and all her American Colonies. In this galleon 

 sailed the friars that went forth to the spiritual conquest of India. In it sailed 

 Spanish soldiers, who followed hard after the priests, to add the temporal to the 

 spiritual subjugation of Oriental empires. To this harbor the galleon returned, 

 freighted with the rich merchandise of China, Japan, and the Spice Islands. 

 When the arrival of the galleon was announced, traders hastened from every 

 quarter of New Spain to attend the annual fair. Little vessels from down the 

 coast came to get their share of the mammoth cargo. The king's officers came 

 to look after the royal revenue ; and caravans of mules were summoned to transport 

 the Spanish portion of the freight to Vera Cruz. 



