490 GUAYMAS TO 
bor of San Blas, at seven o’clock, and before we came 
to anchor were boarded by Mr. Horn, the captain of the 
port. Had that officer been a Mexican, he would not 
have visited us in an hour. All the passengers but 
three left us here. 
Went on shore at ten o'clock, and met a fellow 
passenger coming out to our ship to invite me to 
breakfast with Mr. Horn at twelve o'clock. I accepted 
the invitation, and soon after paid my respects to this 
gentlemanly and accomplished officer. Mr. H. is by 
birth a Swede, and is married to a Mexican lady. Both 
are quite young. Their house is built of poles, after 
the manner of the country; the intermediate spaces 
are filled up with mud, which is plastered and white- 
washed. The foundation is of stone, very thick, and 
rising about three feet above ground. On this rest 
the poles. These support a very tall and pointed roof 
of the same material, covered with cocoa-nut leaves 
and grass, closely bound together, so as to be imper- 
vious to water. The whole is open from the floor to 
the apex of the roof. This species of roof and thatching 
is universally adopted here, as well as at other places on 
the coast ; and by giving a large space for the free cir- 
culation of air, it renders the house cool and comfort- 
able. Mr. Horn’s house is elegantly fitted up with well 
selected engravings, a variety of books in the Swed- 
ish, English, French, and Spanish languages, and far- 
niture adapted to the climate. I have nowhere seen 
more taste and better arrangements for comfort in a 
hot climate than here. 
. After a sumptuous breakfast, Mr. Horn ordered 
three horses to the door, and accompanied Captain 
