TAMPICO. 



2 



observed beset by the market boats and canoes of the 

 Indians, laden with the produce of the farms of the upper 

 district — sugarcane, bamboo, hay, and fruit, or with loads 

 of sweet water brought down the Tammasee. At the 

 same hour the shore was lined by females standing up to 

 their knees in water, patiently labouring at the purifica- 

 tion of some article of apparel, in defiance of the alli- 

 gators swarming on the neighbouring swampy shore, 

 and disporting themselves in the river. Lower down, 

 abreast of the custom house, and busy market place, 

 appeared the various foreign merchant vessels at anchor ; 

 and still farther to the left, the range of hills which rise 

 above Pueblo Viejo, and form the right bank of the Pa- 

 nuco to the gulf. Nothing could exceed the picturesque 

 appearance of many of the figures which here continu- 

 ally passed before us, or the classic character of the 

 women, laden w 7 ith the Etruscan-shaped water jar of the 

 country ; and many a time were we allured to maintain 

 our post, till the heat of the sun, and the effluvia of putrid 

 carcasses which line the shore, forced us to retire. The 

 most striking features of the same view were to be com- 

 manded from any of the farms situated to the right of the 

 St. Luis Potosi road, which, from the peculiar water-girt 

 position of the town, formed the only evening ride of all 

 the gallants of Tampico ; the road to the bar being 

 nearly impassable, on account of the state of the inter 

 vening swamps. 



Every evening during this period of detention, our 

 tawdry retainer, Juliano, appeared about an hour before 

 sunset, with our horses, at the door of the Bolza, and 

 mounting, we never failed to forget the ennui of our 

 position, and the heat and annoyances of midday, in our 

 two hours' gallop amid scenes of such beauty. 



But you will not be tempted to suspect that I could be, 

 with my prying disposition, in a new country, teeming 

 with novelty and wonders in natural history, without a 

 partial resumption of my wonted habit of an occasional 

 stroll on foot, in spite of heat, insects, and the robbers, 

 from whom there was of course some risk as in other 

 highly civilized countries. " What was the heat to me," 



