HYDROGRAPIIIC REPORTS. 
103 
shoals to five. At the end of this turn is the Arroyo Tecuanapa 
coming in on the right, and draining a broad extent of paririe 
land, stretching to the cerro which gives name to the stream. 
Above this the river continues a southwesterly course for two 
miles, sweeping along the base of a range of hills upwards of 400 
feet in height. From the summit of these I was enabled to over 
look the surrounding country for many miles, and to determine 
approximately the position of Mt. Tecuanapa. All this portion of 
the river bank is densely wooded with cedar, and the depth of 
water in channel sufficient to admit schooners. Three miles 
above the hills referred to, at a sharp elbow bending from S. W. 
to east, is a perpendicular bank of white clay and lithomarge 
eighty feet in height, and distinctly stratified ; beneath the lead- 
line showed a depth of thirty-seven feet. Back from the margin 
are three small conical peaks, which afford excellent building 
sites, and between them an extensive lagoon, called El Tortu- 
gero, from the abundance of turtle found in its waters. This 
lake, which receives the drainage from the southern slope of the 
hills, connects with the river through a narrow and tortuous little 
stream. On the opposite shore is a broad and beautiful potrero, 
covered with a reeking growth of luxuriant grass. Between El 
Tortugero and the Playa del Tigre, a distance of three and a 
half miles, the river gradually sweeps round to S. E. by E., and 
carries a depth of five and a half feet in the shoalest part of its 
channel. The left bank is somewhat elevated, and exhibits an 
abundance of guapaque, which clearly indicates that the ground 
is not subject to overflow. Indeed, the presence of this wood 
may be relied on as furnishing an invariable rule for the selec- 
tion of an elevated site. 
Finding it impossible to prosecute the survey beyond the 
Playa del Tigre without violating the order to return by the 25th 
of May, I reluctantly abandoned the work at that point, having 
thus completed a survey of forty -five miles from the junction of 
the Goatzacoalcos River. 
Subsequently, on my arrival at Mina-titlan, while waiting the 
concentration of the parties, I induced Mr. Avery to accompany 
me on a reconnaissance to San Jose and the Tancochapa, the re- 
sults of which are already in your possession. 
