30 SIX MONTHS IN MEXICO. 



pital to Vera Cruz, about four leagues beyond 

 Xalapa, the suffocating heat commences, the 

 oak tree is no longer to be seen, you enter 

 the fever district, and the pestilential influ- 

 ence regularly increases as you approach the 

 shore. This, however, chiefly applies to the 

 rainy season, as at other times it may be visited 

 with little apprehension. But - at all times I 

 should advise foreigners to remain on board 

 their vessels as much as possible ; for in the 

 harbour there is not so much danger, pro- 

 bably in consequence of the cleanliness and 

 good ventilation of the ships. The Rawlings, 

 in which I sailed, with eight passengers and a 

 crew of twenty men, remained several months 

 in the bad season without the loss of a man ; 

 and the Phaeton frigate, in which I returned, 

 with a complement of several hundred persons, 

 passed three of the worst months on the coast 

 with the loss of only one man, a midshipman, 

 who died in Tampico. I should advise the 



