QUAY OF S. JUAN BAUTISTA.
CHAPTER XI.
BELLOTE.
Return to Vera Cruz—Toltec Cities—Quotations regarding Ancient Cities—Rio Tabasco at Frontera—S. Juan Bautista—Rio Gonzalès—Canoas—Lagoons—Bellote Islands—Kjœkkenmœdings—Temples at Bellote—Chronological and Ornamental Slabs—Las Dos Bocas—Cortez—Rio Seco—Paraïso.
We are once more at Vera Cruz, en route for Tabasco, where we are received, as on our first arrival, with the terrible Norte, blowing so hard that no steamer can get away; and to do something I visit the Public Library, which, besides some interesting works, contains also specimens of Totonac antiquities, and a good Indian map on calico.
The wind changes, and we are at last able to go on board the steamer which is to convey us to the mouth of Rio Tabasco, sometime known as Grijalva, after the Spanish explorer; and here we leave our large ship for the river boat. The banks of this river are exceedingly flat and uninteresting; some king-fishers, some white and blue herons, now and then a crocodile, are the only things which break the monotony of this dreary scene.
We stop at a small unhealthy village called Frontera, where we have to change again for S. Juan. The heat is suffocating; our berths so close that we try the tops of our cabins, but no sooner are our mosquito curtains fixed, and ourselves, as we fondly imagine, settled for the night, than a shower of fiery sparks from the engine, which is fed with charcoal, sets our clothes on fire and obliges us to make a hasty retreat, the more so that the ship carries a large cargo of petroleum. Below, a lively night awaits us, and when from sheer weariness we fall asleep at last, we are rudely awakened by the cries of all the denizens of the forest.
A few habitations, a few fields under cultivation, some rare palm-trees, or a flock of sheep, warn us that we are getting near S. Juan. But all we can see at present from our steamer is a long line of low houses, nor is our first impression dispelled when we walk into this outlying, forlorn-looking town. Outward appearance, however, is proverbially deceitful; it is particularly so here, for S. Juan is in reality the great mart of the State, and carries on an extensive trade in cedar, mahogany, and other fine wood. The population is simple, obliging, civil, every house open to us; the Governor, a right good fellow, provides us with letters for the interior, and with men as guides and servants.