71 
sumption takes place in the departments of Chiapas and Oaja- 
ca, the annual produce derived from it being about £8,000. 
This salt was sold at the public administration of Tehuantepec 
at 2s. 5d. per lb. Its cost to the government was not more 
than 6d. for every 100 lbs. since being of spontaneous forma¬ 
tion, and not requiring any operation whatever, the expense was 
limited to the mere carriage from the works to the place of 
deposit. 
MANUFACTURES. 
Those for which th e inhabitants of the Isthmus are more 
distinguished are leather-dressing and saddlery. At Tehuan¬ 
tepec and Juchitan doe-skins are prepared of any colour requi¬ 
red, and with a degree of skill which entitles them to the high 
repute they have attained. Other kinds of skin are also tan¬ 
ned there, and the sole-leather and dressed ox-hides of Tehuan¬ 
tepec are much esteemed. . Shoes and saddles manufactured 
of them are occasionally sent to Guatemala and the interior of 
the Republic. 
Another produce of the industry of the inhabitants of the 
Isthmus consists in cotton stuff, woven with an admirable de¬ 
gree of fineness, considering the imperfection of the looms 
employed for its manufacture. 
NORTHERN DIVISION OF THE ISTHMUS. 
DEPARTMENT OF VERA CRUZ, 
This portion of the Isthmus belongs to the district of Aca- 
yucam, which was formerly one of the most densely populated 
of the Mexican empire. 
The government of Vera Cruz published, in 1831, the statis¬ 
tics of their own territory, and Don Jose M. Iglesias edited 
with accuracy and tact the portion relating to the district of 
Acayucam. Since 1831 the condition of this country has 
considerably improved, as may be inferred by the buildings 
