318 



NORTHEKN DISTRICTS 



Durango. 



CHAP. XXIV. the rivers, too, are blocked up by bars, necks of land, 

 and lon;^ islands running jiarallel 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 Zacattcas and Guadalaxara ; on the south- 

 east by San Luis ; and on the west by Sonora. On the 

 northern and eastern sides, for more than GOO miles, it 

 borders on an uncultivated country inhabited by inde- 

 pendent Indians. Tliis 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 96C miles. 



13. New Mexico, which is very sparingly inhabited, 

 stretches along the Rio Norte, and has a remarkably 

 cold climate. 



14. Old California equals England in extent of terri- 

 tory, but has only a population of 9000. The soil of 

 this peninsula is parched and sandy, and the vegetation 

 feeble ; but the sky is constantly clear and of a deep 

 blue ; the light clouds which sometimes appear present- 

 ing at sunset the most beautiful shades of violet, purple, 

 and green. A chain of mountains, the highest of which 

 is about 6000 feet, runs through the centre of the 

 peninsula and is inhabited by animals resembling the 

 moufion of Sai-dinia, wliich the Spaniards call wild 

 sheep. The principal attraction which California has 

 afford i;d to Europeans since the IGth century is the 

 great quantity of pearls found in it, and which, although 

 frequently of an irregular form, are large and of a very 

 beautiful water. At the present day, however, this 

 fishery is almost entirely abandoned. 



15. New California is a long and narrow country, 

 identifying itself with the shore of the Pacific Ocean 

 from tlie isthmus of Old California to Cape Mendocino. 

 It is extremely picturesque, and enjoys a fertile well- 

 watered soilj with a temperate climate. Wheat, barley, 



Sonora. 



New Mexico. 



Old Cali- 

 fornia. 



New Cali- 

 Ibrula. 



