238 
TOWNS, PRODUCTIVE INDUSTRY, ETC. 
founded in 1821 by a French colonist, is the only inhabited 
point between 1 the head of ship navigation and the upper waters 
of the Coatzacoalcos. It contains 60 houses and 370 inhabitants, 
who possess some 4000 head of cattle, part of which are pastured 
on the island of Tacamichapa. Oranges are grown here in 
great numbers, and the rich fruits which nourish in the vicinity 
load the air with their fragrance. Above and around the vil- 
lage the soil is exceedingly fertile, and in a good state of culti- 
vation, producing corn, coffee, and tobacco in great abundance. 
Some distance further up, on the Tacamichapa side, are perpen- 
dicular cliffs of light, porous, decomposed sandstone, from sixty 
to one hundred feet high, from which issue numerous delightful 
springs of clear pure water. These cliffs are overlaid by strata 
of red and blue clay of remarkable tenacity, extensively used by 
the natives for various purposes of pottery. 
San Martin Acayucam is by far the most important town in 
the northern division of the Isthmus, and the capital of the dis- 
trict of the same name. Located on a ridge which extends 
from the mountains of Tuxtla, its climate is cool, salubrious, and 
healthy. It is the residence of the gefe politico, and a place of 
considerable trade, containing some 5200 inhabitants, a parro- 
quia, two or three primary schools, several stores, a cotton-gin, 
and one or two sugar-presses. Latterly, however, Acayucam has 
greatly diminished in wealth and importance. At the period of 
the Conquest it was the court and residence of one of the most 
powerful caciques of the great empire of the Aztecs ; but unfor- 
tunately the old archives have perished with its greatness, and 
a few incomplete documents recording the events of the years 
1600 and 1658 are all that now remain ; these contain nothing 
of interest. In the vicinity the soil is remarkably fertile, pro- 
ducing maize, sugar-cane, coffee, cacao, ixtle, and a great variety 
of esculents. The surrounding forests also abound with valuable 
trees, and afford frequent bowers of rare and picturesque beauty. 
Most of the trade of Acayucam is carried on through the Paso 
San Juan, on the river of that name, which serves as an outlet for 
the productions of all the northern division, except such as find 
a market by sea from Mina-titlan. In times of prosperity the 
annual exports of cotton and ixtle alone, through the Paso, to 
