16 



SIX MONTHS IN MEXICO. 



free commercial intercourse which in all hu- 

 man probability is destined to subsist between 

 them. We passed the custom-house at the 

 water-gate, unquestioned and unexamined, 

 and were conducted to the principal inn or 

 Posada. 



We walked out to see the town, and de- 

 liver our letters of introduction, with which I 

 was well furnished ; but the English traveller 

 who trusts to letters of this description, will 

 find himself wofully disappointed; for of 

 thirty which I carried out, not one procured 

 me even an invitation to dinner. This, as 

 future experience taught me, is the universal 

 practice of the Spaniards towards the English. 

 Being Sunday evening, we were recommended 

 to see the public walk on the outside the gate, 

 south of the city. It is tastefully furnished 

 with seats for the promenaders, but the com- 

 pany was by no means gay. Here, however, 

 we had an opportunity of seeing the Repub- 



