NORTHERN DISTRICTS. 323 



The sky is beautiful and serene in summer, but from 

 December to February it has a most melancholy 

 aspect, and, whenever the north wind blows, is 

 overcast to such a degree that the sun and stars are 

 frequently invisible for two or three weeks together. 

 Some of the merchants of Vera Cruz have coimtry- 

 houses at Xalapa, where they enjoy a cool and 

 agreeable retreat, while the coast is almost unin- 

 habitable, on account of the intense heats, the mos- 

 quitoes, and the yellow fever. 



10. The captaincy of San Luis Potosi embraces 

 the whole north-eastern part of New-Spain, and is 

 extremely diversified in its character. The only 

 portion which is cold and mountainous is that ad- 

 joining the province of Zacatecas, and in which are 

 the rich mines of Charcas, Guadalcagar, and Catorce. 

 There is a great extent of low ground, partly cul- 

 tivated, but for the most part barren and uninhabited. 

 Its coast line is more than 794 miles in length; but' 

 hardly any commerce enlivens it, owing to the de- 

 ficiency of harbours. The mouths of the rivers, 

 too, are blocked up by bars, necks of land, and long 

 islands running parallel to the coast. 



11. New-Biscay or Durango occupies a greater 

 space of ground than Great Britain and Ireland, 

 though its population does not exceed 160,000. It is 

 bounded on the south by Zacatecas and Guadalaxara ; 

 on the south-east by San Luis ; and on the AVest by 

 Sonora. On the northern and eastern sides, for more 

 than 690 miles, it borders on an uncultivated countiy 

 inhabited by independent Indians. This intendancy 

 comprehends the northern extremity of the great 

 table-land of Anahuac, which declines towards the 

 Rio Grande del Norte. 



12. The province of Sonora is still more thinly 

 peopled than Durango. It extends on the shores of 

 the Gulf of California more than 966 miles. 



13. New-Mexico, which is very sparingly inhabited, 



