INTENDANCY OF VERA CRUZ. 321 



abounds in several districts. Merida, the capital, 

 has a population of 10,000. 



9. The government of Vera Cruz extends along the 

 Mexican Gulf from the Rio Baraderas to the great 

 river of Panuco. The western part forms the de- 

 clivity of the cordilleras of Anahuac, from whence, 

 amid the regions of perpetual snow, the inhabitants 

 descend in a day to the burning plains of the coast. 

 In this district are displayed in a remarkable manner 

 the gradations of vegetation, from the level of the 

 sea to those elevated summits which are visited with 

 perennial frost. In ascending, the traveller sees the 

 physiognomy of the country, the aspect of the sky, 

 the form of the plants, the figures of animals, the 

 manners of the inhabitants, and the kind of cultiva- 

 tion followed by them, assuming a different appear- 

 ance at every step. Leaving the lower districts, 

 covered with a beautiful and luxuriant vegetation, he 

 first enters that in which the oak appears, where he 

 has no longer cause to dread the yellow fever, so fatal 

 on the coasts. Forests of liquidambar, 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 cordil- 

 leras. *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, where 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 Papautla, Nautla, and S. Andre Tuxtla, 

 grows the vanilla, the fruit of which is used for 

 perfuming chocolate. The beautiful convolvulus, 

 whose root furnishes the jalap of the apothecaries, 

 grows near the Indian villages of Colipa and Mi- 

 sautla. The pimento-myrtle is produced in the woods 

 which extend towards the river of Baraderas. On 



