SIX MONTHS IN MEXICO. 23 



at the hotels is expensive and very uncomfort- 

 able. Provisions are dear, with the exception 

 of fish, which, as already stated, is in abun- 

 dance and good. Some beautiful and curious 

 Mangrove oysters were the largest and finest 

 flavoured I had ever met with. Milk is 

 scarcely to be had, as not a cow is kept within 

 miles, and what is, perhaps, peculiar to Vera 

 Cruz, there is not a garden near it. The 

 absence of vegetation attests at once the po- 

 verty of the soil, and the insalubrity of the 

 climate. I know not whether prejudice may 

 not have influenced my decision, but to me 

 Vera Cruz appears the most disagreeable 

 place on earth ; and its character of being the 

 most unhealthy spot in the world, naturally 

 makes the stranger shudder every hour he 

 remains within its walls, surrounded by arid 

 sands, extensive swamps, and savannahs, the 

 exhalations from which are dissipated only by 

 strong winds. Its rainy season, from May 



