ADVANTAGES OF THE PORT. li 



ships are known to be hovering on the coast, an 

 officer from the custom-house of St. Jose is 

 stationed at this grazing settlement to prevent 

 the contraband introduction of foreign goods ; 

 but this Cerberus is always greedy for a sop, and 

 is himself seldom averse to doing a little in the 

 way of free trade. 



To ships in want of essentials this port offers 

 some advantages ; but is not remarkable for the 

 abundance or variety of the supplies it affords. 

 Wood and water may be obtained by purchase, 

 conveniently, and in sufficient quantity; and 

 when a ready market is promised, the residents 

 bring from the interior of the country an abund- 

 ance of musk- and water-melons, oranges, ba- 

 nanas, pumpkins, and other fruits which their 

 own sterile soil denies. The excellent beef also 

 that can be obtained here, proves invaluable to 

 South-Seamen when their stock of salt provi- 

 sions is exhausted, and often enables them to 

 make a much more protracted stay in the Pacific 

 than they would otherwise be enabled to do. 



The oxen found here do not differ essentially 

 from the European breed. Their average size 

 is perhaps less ; and their prevailing colour 

 black, or black and white ; they all, except the 

 milch kine, rove unrestrained through the jungle 

 of the plain, or browse on the declivities of the 



