of the republic as Villa Rica de Vera Cruz, that is, "the rich
city of the true cross." A brief glance at its past history shows us
that, in 1568, it was in the hands of pirates, and that it was again
sacked by buccaneers in 1683, having been in the interim, during the
year 1618, swept by a devastating conflagration which nearly obliterated
the place. In 1822-23, it was bombarded by the Spaniards, who still held
the castle of San Juan d'Ulloa. In 1838, it was attacked by a French
fleet, and in 1847, was cannonaded and captured by the American forces.
In 1856, it was nearly destroyed by a hurricane. In 1859, civil war
decimated the fortress and the town. The French and Imperialists took
and held it from 1861 until 1867, when the cause of national
independence triumphed. Since this latter date Vera Cruz has enjoyed a
period of quiet and a large share of commercial prosperity.

About ten or twelve miles southward from the city is the little town of
Medillin, a sort of popular watering-place, the Saratoga of this
neighborhood. It is made up of a few decent houses of brick and wood,
and many very poor ones, having plenty of drinking, dancing, and
gambling saloons. The trip thither is most enjoyable to a stranger, for
the glimpse it gives him of the tropical character and the rank
fertility of this region. On the way one passes through a floral
paradise, where flowers of every hue and teeming with fragrance line the
way. Almond-trees, yielding grateful shade, and the _Ponciana regia_,
blazing with gorgeous flowers, are in strong contrast to each other. The
productive breadfruit-tree and the grapefruit with its yellow product
abound. Here one sees the scarlet hibiscus beside the _galan de noche_
(garland of night), which grows like a young palm to nearly ten feet in
height, throwing out from the centre of its tufted top a group of brown
blossoms daintily tipped with white, the mass of bloom shaped like a
rich cluster of ripe grapes. Truly, the trees and flowers to be seen on
the way to Medillin are a revelation.

The State of Vera Cruz borders the Gulf for a distance of five hundred
miles, averaging in width about seventy-five miles. No other section of
the country is so remarkable for its extreme temperature and for the
fertility of the soil. The variety of its productions is simply
marvelous. The intense heat is tempered by the northers, which usually
occur about the first of December, and from time to time until the first