372 VERA CRUZ. 
‘porphyry. The base is an exact square, 82 feet on 
each side, and the perpendicular height seems to 
be about sixty. Itis composed of several stages, of 
which some are still distinguishable. A great stair 
of 57 steps conducts to the truncated summit. 
The most remarkable cities are Vera Cruz, Perote, 
Cordoba, and Orizaba. The first of these, the centre 
of European and West Indian commerce, is beauti- 
fully and regularly built; but it is situated in an 
arid plain destitute of running water and partly 
covered with shifting sand-hills, which contribute 
to increase the suffocating heat of the air. In the 
midst of these downs are marshy lands covered 
with rhizophore and. other plants. No stones for 
architectural purposes are to be found near the city, 
which is entirely constructed of coral rock drawn 
from the bottom of the sea. The water is very bad, 
and is obtained either by digging in the sandy soil, 
or by collecting the rain in cisterns. 
Xalapa, the population of which is estimated at 
13,000, occupies a very romantic situation at the 
foot of the basaltic mountain of Macultepec, sur- 
rounded by forests of styrax, piper, melastome, and 
tree-ferns. 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 country-houses at Xalapa, where 
they enjoy a cool and agreeable retreat, while the 
coast is almost uninhabitable, on account of the 
intense heats, the mosquitoes, and the yellow fever. 
10. The captaincy of San Luis Potosi embraces 
