240 
TOWNS, PRODUCTIVE INDUSTRY, ETC. 
southern division of the Isthmus. The products of the Pa- 
cific side, destined for the Gulf coast, are first brought down 
to this place for embarkation ; and occasional cargoes of goods 
from Yera Cruz ascend the river to this point, from whence 
they are carried to the Pacific plains on mules. Opposite 
the mouth of the Sarabia Biver, on the right bank of the Coat- 
zacoalcos, is the site of a French settler, now abandoned. The 
rancho has rotted down, and the luxuriant forest has grown 
over the cleared portion, leaving no traces of the place ever 
having been inhabited, save a few orange and cocoanut trees 
which struggle with the pressure of the vines and foliage. At 
Mai Paso are two small ranchos which are untenanted, except 
by an occasional custom-house official on the arrival of a cargo 
of goods. They however serve as shelter for travellers, and 
prove a welcome resting-place after a slow and toilsome ascent 
of the river. 
It would be a fruitless task to attempt a description of the 
scenery between the habitable points of this vast wilderness. 
Everywhere clustering lilies bathe their fragrant heads in the 
shining river, and thousands of creeping plants, decked with 
blossoms, bend downward from the overarching growth above, 
forming strange and fantastic bowers, while a hundred little 
streams pour their bright tributaries into the bosom of the great 
" Father of Waters." Beyond Mai Paso is San Gabeiel Boca del 
Monte (entrance to the forest). This is an extensive hacienda, 
between the Sarabia and Malatengo rivers, and is traversed by 
the road which connects the more interior towns with Mai Paso 
and the Coatzacoalcos. As a permanent settlement it bears 
date of 1824, when the present proprietor, D. Bartolo Boderi- 
guez, obtained a concession of four and a quarter leagues square 
of land from the government. This colony now contains thir- 
teen ranchos, and sixty-eight inhabitants, who are chiefly em- 
ployed in raising cattle, and cultivating tobacco, maize, coffee, 
and vanilla. The road from Mai Paso to Boca del Monte tra- 
verses, for three or four miles, the summit of a high, narrow 
ridge, which divides the waters of the Sarabia from the Coat- 
zacoalcos. It then follows the immediate margin of the former 
stream, occasionally diverging when the banks become rocky 
