HYDEOGEAPHIC EEPOETS. 
101 
said to be several leagues in extent, with sandy shores like 
the sea. 
One and a half miles above the Mexcalapa is the site of a 
French colony, located in 1823. Notwithstanding the favorable 
character of this point, the abundance of valuable timber grow- 
ing on it, the depth and width of the river, and the elevation of 
the ground above overflow, the settlement has long since been 
abandoned, and the ruined houses are now scarcely discernible 
amid the densely luxuriant foliage. Diagonally opposite is 
the Arroyo de Francia, which drains an extensive protrero, 
stretching inland to the eastern margin of the Tancochapa ; and 
six miles further on, in a direction nearly east, is a singular 
island called El Rom/pido, signifying " the break." The tortu- 
ous flexures of the river at this point are very great, and the 
aberration from the direct line of descent has been in part re- 
stored by the water cutting through the narrow isthmus which 
originally separated the two curves. Thus the extreme sinuosity 
of the riverhaving caused it to return in a direction contrary 
to its main course, the peninsula was subsequently consumed on 
both sides by currents flowing in opposite directions, and the 
island formed. This contingency has had the effect to check 
the course of the stream, and cause an extensive deposit of sed- 
imentary matter in the reach above, which may be permanently 
cleared by confining the river within narrower limits, and pre- 
venting the water from making the circuit of the island. The 
bend referred to, called Tomo Guineas, exhibits a depth of only 
six feet, in the shoalest part of the channel, which gradually 
increases to fourteen at the entrance of the Arroyo de los TJr- 
gells, twenty-nine miles from the debouche of the Uspanapa. 
Ascending this stream for seven and a half miles, we reached 
El Paso, a small point belonging to the Messrs. Urgells, who 
annually ship from it large quantities of cacao to Mina-titlan, 
whence it is carried on mules to the Paso San Juan, or finds a 
transit by sea through the Coatzacoalcos. The arroyo is ex- 
ceedingly winding and full of snags, but of depth suflicient to 
admit canoes drawing three feet. From the Paso we procured 
horses, and visited the Hacienda of San Jose del Carmen, situ- 
ated on the western bank of the Tancochapa, and accessible by 
