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PEROTE ACAPULCO SAN JUAN DE ULUA. 



nies. Situated far in the interior of the country and in the midst 

 of a wide plain, it does not absolutely command any of the ap- 

 proaches either from the coast to the inner states, or to the coast 

 from the capital. It is, however, well placed as a military arsenal, 

 and demands an expenditure of about thirty thousand dollars to 

 render it useful to the nation. 



The Castle of San Juan de Ulua, built on a reef opposite the town 

 of Vera Cruz, is in so ruinous a state that scarcely a million and a 

 half of dollars will suffice to restore it to its ancient splendor and 

 power. The one hundred and twenty-four guns now within its walls 

 are all more or less injured or dismounted. "To garrison this Cas- 

 tle properly," said General Arista in his report as Minister of War 

 in 1849, " two thousand men will be required at a yearly cost of 

 four hundred thousand dollars. If this immense treasure is squan- 

 dered on the Castle, it will surely be wasted alone to preserve a 

 vain luxury ; for, as Mexico has no hope of becoming a maritime 

 power, San Juan de Ulua must always fall into the possession of 

 such a naval nation whenever it makes war upon us. Experienced 

 Spanish officers have recommended the dismantling of San Juan, 

 and they now urge it more strongly than ever, as there is far 

 greater reason to believe that it neither defends the nation nor 

 even the city of Vera Cruz. The French, and recently the Ameri- 

 cans, have convinced us of this fact ; the first possessed themselves 

 early of the Castle, and the latter took the town without hindrance 

 from the Castle." Such is the opinion of one of the most experi- 

 enced Mexican generals in regard to a fortress which has hitherto 

 been deemed impregnable, and, although we do not agree with him 

 in regard to its entire worthlessness in the hands of abler engineers, 

 we doubt whether its use is not greater in checking the city of Vera 

 Cruz itself, than in commanding the approaches to it from the 

 sea. It must be remembered that the lee of this very Castle is the 

 only comparatively safe harbor on the gulf at present, and that 

 until a mole or breakwater shall be erected elsewhere, it is only in 

 certain seasons and under favorable circumstances that large bodies 

 of troops may be prudently disembarked on the adjacent shores. 

 The landing of General Scott, in 1847, was singularly fortunate in 

 time and circumstances, for, soon after, a furious norther arose and 

 prevented all communication between the land and the squadron. 

 These violent gales are sudden and terrific in their rise and action 

 at Vera Cruz, and the dreadful havoc they made among the Ameri- 

 can shipping on the coast during the war, attests the value of a 

 military defence whose protective duties are seconded by the very 



