478 
URES TO 
The town stands close on the margin of the bay, 
occupying a narrow strip about a mile in length and 
not exceeding a quarter of a mile in width, when the 
mountains rise and hem it closely in. It is entered 
from the north by a single avenue, which forms its 
main street ; and this is intersected by short lateral 
ones leading to the bay. The houses are built of stone,' 
brick, and adobe. Those in the best parts of the town 
are plastered, which gives them a respectable appear- 
ance. There are several families of wealth here, whose 
houses are handsomely furnished, and who enjoy the 
luxuries of a residence near the coast. The streets are 
lighted at night, a convenience not noticed elsewhere. 
The place is supplied with water from wells in the 
suburbs, which is brought through the streets in leath- 
ern bags on the backs of donkeys. It is somewhat 
brackish, and at first unpleasant to the taste ; but it is 
considered wholesome, and one soon becom'es accus- 
tomed to it."^^ Below the town is the only neat ceme- 
tery we had seen in the country. The Gampo Santo 
is generally a small inclosure in which bodies are al- 
lowed to moulder without any thing to mark the graves, 
the bones of former tenants being thrown out to make 
room for the new comers. Here are a number of neat 
monuments, and the ground is kept with some show of 
order. On the “ feast of the dead” the bells toll day 
and night ; and in the evening, the graves and monu- 
ments are surrounded with lighted candles, and visited 
^ For the facts relating to Guaymas and Hermosillo, not derived from 
personal observation during my brief stay in these places, 1 am indebted 
to Velasco’s “ JVoticias JEstadisticas del Estado de Sonora^ 
