188 



MEXICO. 



had miscalculated the activity of commercial eri- 

 terprise^ wherever it is happily unrestricted and 

 unprotected. 



After a few minutes ride from the landing- 

 place, we found ourselves in the town of San Bias, 

 which is perched, like an eagle's nest, on the top 

 of a rock a hundred and fifty feet high, absolute- 

 ly precipitous on three sides, and very steep on 

 the fourth, rising out of a low swampy plain, 

 which, in the rainy season, is laid completely un- 

 der water. 



As I found that the merchants, both English 

 and Spanish, lived in the interior, some at the 

 neighbouring town of Topic, others at the pro- 

 vincial capital, Gaudalaxara, I determined to pro- 

 ceed to the former place to learn the state of the 

 commercial intercourse with England, and whe- 

 ther I could in any way contribute to advance 

 the interests of the British trade in that quarter. 



A Revolution, I found, had taken place not 

 long before our arrival on the coast, by which the 

 country of Mexico was declared independent of 

 Spain ; but there had been no further quarrel be-^ 

 tween the countries ; on the contrary, the union 



