TAMPICO. 



105 



more thau eight or nine feet have to remain outside the bar, where they are 

 exposed to the winds and surf. But, higher up, the river is navigable for small 

 steamers some 30 miles above its mouth. The trade of Tampico has, at different 

 times, undergone great vicissitudes ; it was enriched at the expense of Vera Cruz 

 whenever this place was blockaded or occupied by foreign powers ; at other times 

 it was itself deprived of its export trade in consequence of local revolts or 

 political strife. Recently a large share of the American traffic has been diverted 

 from this port by the opening of the continuous railway from the States through 

 Paso del Norte to Mexico ; but it has again recovered its commercial importance 



Fig. 41.— Tampico. 

 Scale 1 : 130.000 



■97-52 



0to6 

 Fathoms. 



Depths. 



5 to 10 

 Fathoms. 



10 Fathoms 

 and upwards. 



3,300 Yards. 



since the construction of the railway connecting this port through San Luis Potosi 

 with the Mexican system. Several lines of steampackets also connect Tampico 

 with the olher large seaports on the Gulf and in the Caribbean Sea, as well as 

 with New York, Liverpool, Havre and Hamburg. 



Some 30 miles above Tampico, and on the right bank of the Panuco, or 

 "Ford," stands the village of Panuco, formerly San Edehan del Puerto, which 

 recalls the memory of the Huaxtec kingdom conquered by Cortes, and so cruelly 

 laid waste by Nuno de Guzman. The whole district is still but thinly inhabited 

 compared to its flourishing condition before the arrival of the Spaniards. Higher 

 up on an affluent of the Panuco stands Tamqukin, a town of Huaxtec origin, where 



