DESCENT ANTIQUITIES IN STATE OF VERA CRUZ. 193 



plain near Jalapa, is 155 metres less, or 17,377 feet in all. It will 

 be seen that my determination agrees very nearly with that of Mr. 

 Ferrar. 



"We remained on the summit about an hour, — planted our 

 national banner and saluted it with three hearty cheers. The day 

 was clear, but the atmosphere thick and smoky, so that we did not 

 enjoy the views we had hoped for ; but as we believed ourselves to 

 have been the first who ever looked into the crater, we were amply 

 repaid for our trouble. 



" The descent was by no means so difficult as the ascent ; a slide 

 on the snow or sand carried us hundreds of feet down a space 

 which had required many weary steps to ascend. About dark we 

 arrived at our encampment, highly delighted with our trip, though 

 much exhausted. All who made the final attempt were more or less 

 affected either with violent headaches, nausea, and vomiting, or 

 bleeding at the nose. The veils which we provided for our journey 

 did good service, but the face, and particularly the lips, of all who 

 reached the summit, became so extremely swollen and cracked as to 

 confine them to their rooms for several days. 



" The difficulty of the undertaking had been greatly magnified ; — 

 none of our preparations, excepting veils, were necessary. The 

 sand is the most serious obstacle to be overcome, and by taking a 

 more circuitous route from our last encampment, this might have 

 been avoided. All that is required is patience, perseverance and 

 a physical constitution capable of sustaining fatigue." 



Ancient Remains in the State of Vera Cruz. 



During the sojourn of Mr. Norman in Mexico, in 1844, as de- 

 scribed in his " Rambles by Land and Water," he made an excur- 

 sion to visit the ancient town of Panuco, where he was received 

 with the greatest kindness and hospitality by the white and half- 

 breed inhabitants. His route lay along the banks of the river, and 

 across the prairies : the common road being only a bridle path 

 through the forest which is never travelled but with the greatest 

 caution and watchfulness. Here, as in the State of Tamaulipas, he 

 visited the Indian huts that lay in his way ; but it was quite impos- 

 sible to convince the credulous children of the wilderness that the 

 acquisition of gold was not the real object of his visit ; — and this 

 circumstance may account for the fact that he obtained from them 

 so little information respecting the neighborhood. 



Y 



