RETURN HOME. 355 
CONCLUSION. 
On the 9th of November, 1842, I left the Capital in the diligence, ac- 
companied by Mr. Peyton Southall bearing dispatches to our Govern- 
ment. We had secured the attendance of a strong guard, and found 
three or four Englishmen in the coach as well accoutred as ourselves. 
I was greatly struck with the change that had been effected in every- 
thing during the last year. The road was in excellent order ; — the ruts 
in the mountain sides had been filled and levelled ; — ^the inns were re- 
fitted and neatly kept ; — ^the villages along the way-side had been cleaned 
and painted, and scarcely a vestige remained of the misery and desola- 
tion that oppressed me on my arrival. 
On the 11th, at sunset, we passed through Plan del Rio, — supped at 
Puente Nacional, — and, at daylight on the 12th, (precisely a year from 
the date of my amval,) again reached " La Villa rica de la Vera Cruz." 
After a delay of a day or two we embarked on board the U. S. Steamer 
Missouri. On the 20th, we reached the southwest pass of the Missis- 
sippi, and once more hailed with pleasure our native shores. 
I only repeat the sentiment of almost every traveller in the beautiful 
country I have been describing, when I say, — that no matter how impatient 
we may be to leave Mexico, yet, when her frontier has been passed, per. 
haps for ever, there are few who do not long to enjoy once more her 
cloudless skies, her bountiful soil, and her eternal spring ! 
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