31() 



VERA CRCZ. 



Elevated 

 regions. 



Forests. 



Evergreen 

 forests. 



CirAP.xxiV. a different appearance at every step. Leaving the 

 lower districts, covered with a beautiful and luxuriant 

 vegetation, he first enters that in which the oak appears, 

 where lie lias no longer cause to dread the yellow fever, 

 80 fatal on the coasts. Forests of liquidarahar, near 

 Xalapa, announce by their freshness the elevation at 

 which the strata of clouds, suspended over the ocean, 

 come in contact with the basaltic summits of the Cor- 

 dilleras. A little higher the banana ceases to yield 

 fruit. At the height of San Miguel pines begin to 

 mingle with the oaks, which continue as far as the 

 plains of Perote, w^here the cereal vegetation of Europe 

 is seen. Beyond this, the former alone cover the rocks, 

 the tops of which enter the region of perpetual frigidity. 



At the foot of the cordillera, in the evergreen forests 

 of Papantla, Nautla, and S. Andre Tuxtla, grows the 

 vanilla, the fruit of which is used for perfuming choco- 

 late. The beautiful convolvulus, whose root furnishes 

 the jalap of the apothecaries, grows near the Indian 

 villages of Colipa and Misantla. The pimento-myrtle 

 is produced in the woods which extend towards the 

 river of Baraderas. On the declivities of Orizaba, 

 tobacco of excellent quality is cultivated ; and the 

 sarsaparilla grows in the moist and shady ravines. 

 Cotton and sugar of excellent quality are produced 

 along the greater part of the coast. 



In this intendancy are two collossal summits, — the 

 volcano of Orizaba, which after Popocatepetl is the 

 highest in New Spain, and the Cofre de Perote, which 

 is nearly 1312 feet more elevated than the Peak of 

 Teneriffc. In its northern part, near tlic Indian village 

 of Papantla, is a pyramidal edifice of great antiquity 

 situated in the midst of a thick forest. It is not con- 

 structed of brick.':, or clay mixed with stone and faced 

 with amygdaloid, like those of Cholula and Teotihuacan ; 

 on the contrary, the materials employed have been 

 immense blocks of jiorphyry. The base is an exact 

 square, 82 feet on eacli side, and the perpendicular 



Volcano of 

 Orizaba. 



