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MEXICO. 



lying near that country, and, in order to distin- 

 guish it from other Mexican towns of the same 

 name. Although the distance from Acapulco to 

 San Bias is no more than five hundred miles, it 

 cost us sixteen days to make the passage. This 

 was owing to the prevalent winds of the coast at 

 this season of the year, being from the north- 

 western quarter. The weather, however, was ex- 

 tremely fine, though very hot in the middle of the 

 day. In most tropical climates, near the shore, 

 there prevail what are called land and sea breez- 

 es, which, if properly taken advantage of, greatly 

 assist navigation on the coasts where they are 

 found. During certain hours of the day, the wind 

 blows from the sea towards the shore, and during 

 the greater part of the night, it blows from the 

 land. The navigator, whose object is to make 

 his way along the coast, takes advantage of these 

 changes, by placing his ship at night-fall so close 

 to the shore, that he may profit by the first puff 

 of the land wind ; and afterwards steers such a 

 course throughout the night that, by the time 

 the land wind dies away, the ship shall have 

 reached that degree of ofiing, or distance from the 



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