ated grains and fruits generally.

The cacao, the source from whence our chocolate comes, was originally
found in Mexico, where its seeds once formed the money, or circulating
medium, of the aboriginal tribes. It grows here in abundance and to
great perfection.

Cordova has between six and eight thousand inhabitants. It is nearly
three thousand feet above sea level, and is rarely troubled with yellow
fever; but ague is common. The streets are very regular and are all
paved. On one side of the plaza is the cathedral, a grand edifice with a
gaudily-finished interior. The central plaza, though small, is
exquisitely kept, full of flowers, and vivid with the large scarlet
tulipan. The ground is well-filled with fruit-trees and palms,
interspersed with smooth paths, and furnished with ornamental iron
seats. On the outside of the plaza is the market, where rows of
country-women sit on their haunches in true Asiatic fashion, beside
their articles for sale. This class of women here affect high colors in
their rude costumes, wearing a profusion of cheap coral and silver
ornaments, besides a peculiar headdress, more Neapolitan than Mexican.
It is quite the thing in speaking of Cordova to remember that it was
here, in 1821, that the treaty was signed between Iturbide and O'Donoju,
which officially recognized the independence of Mexico. The vicinity of
the town abounds in antique remains. An organized party was engaged in
exhuming old pottery and other domestic utensils at the time of our
visit.

CHAPTER XVI.

The City of Vera Cruz.--Defective Harbor.--The Dreaded and also Welcome
Norther.--San Juan d'Ulloa.--Landing of Cortez.--His Expedition
Piratical.--View of the City from the Sea.--Cortez's Destruction of
his Ships.--Anecdote of Charles V.--A Sickly Capital.--Street Scenes.
--Trade.--The Mantilla.--Plaza de la Constitucion.--Typical
Characters.--Brilliant Fireflies.--Well-To-Do Beggars.--Principal
Edifices.--The Campo Santo.--City Dwelling-Houses.--The Dark-Plumed
Buzzards.--A City Fountain.--A Varied History.--Medillin.--State of
Vera Cruz.

Vera Cruz, which is at present the principal seaport of the republic,
and which has heretofore been considered as the gateway of Mexico, is
without a harbor worthy of the name, being situated on an open roadstead
and affording no safe anchorage among its shoals, coral reefs, and surf.
It is not safe, in fact, for vessels to moor within half a mil