320 INTENDANCY OF MERIDA. 



delightful countries in the New Continent, possess- 

 ing great fertility of soil and salubrity of climate. 

 It is bounded on the north by Guatimala ; on the west 

 by the province of Puebla ; and on the south by the 

 Pacific Ocean. The mountainous parts are composed 

 of granite and gneiss. The vegetation is every- 

 where exceedingly beautiful. At the village of 

 Santa Maria del Tule, ten miles east of the capital, 

 there is an enormous trunk of Cupressus disticha, 

 118 feet in circumference, though it seems rather to 

 be formed of three stems grown into one. 



The most remarkable object in this district is the 

 palace of Mitla, the walls of which are decorated 

 with grecques and labyrinths in mosaic, resembling 

 the ornaments of Tuscan vases. It consists of three 

 edifices, and is morever distinguished from other 

 ancient Mexican buildings by six porphyritic columns 

 which support the ceiling of a vast hall. These 

 pillars have neither base nor capital ; each exhibits 

 a single block of stone, and the height is about six- 

 teen feet. Oaxaca, the principal town, contained, in 

 the year 1792, twenty-four thousand inhabitants. 

 Some of the mines are very productive. 



8. The intendancy of Merida comprehends the 

 great peninsula of Yucatan, situated between the 

 Bay of Campeachy and that of Honduras. It is 

 bounded on the south by Guatimala, on the east by 

 the province of Vera Cruz, and on the west by the 

 English establishments, Avhich extend from the mouth 

 of the Rio Hondo to the north of tlie Bay of Han- 

 over. This peninsula is a vast plain, intersected by 

 a chain of hills ; and though one of the warmest, it 

 is at the same time one of the healthiest provinces 

 of equinoctial America. The latter circumstance is 

 to be attributed to the extreme dryness of the soil 

 and atmosphere. No European grain is produced ; 

 but maize, jatropha, and dioscorea are cultivated in 

 abundance. The Hoematoxylon or Campeachy wood 



