mpressive
in such a meeting ; nowhere does an ocean steamer seem to sit so proudly, or lord it so loftily as when seen from another steamer at sea. You wonder if your ship is as large and as powerful as that.
Crossing the gulf of Tehuantepe'c we enter upon the hottest part of our journey. Those of us who had dreamed of tropical glories, and .the sensuousness and dolce far niente of a shadcless meridian sun had, ere this, had our fill, and we could take no further pleas- ure in them. The apathy of overpowering languor, the curse satiety, fell upon us; the Mexican coast, along which we now sailed, panted beneath the heat; its air was like the breath of a great beast, threatenmg suffocation.
Came in sight the open green sierras of Mexico, then the harbor of Acapulco where the steamer victu- alled. Ninety miles from shore, abo^e Punta Sacri- ficios, the Mexican table-land is seen across the tierra caliente as if near at hand. The grandeur of the mountains which rise to a height of eight or ten thou- sand feet, calls from voj^agers many an exclamation of surprise and admiration. The white sandy beach seems eternal to those watching for the entrance to Acapulco harbor — a useless watch, for when the ship heads directly for the land, you see nothing but a bold, continuous coast line. Even after passing the island of Roquetta on the left, and a bluff headland on the right, you wonder where the anchorage is. A little farther, however, and you see some shipping, and beyond it the fort, and then the town, awakened to traffic by the reverberations of the ship's gun, which sends its peals echoing among the lofty hills as the vessel is made fast to the buoy. Now glance around and you will see neither place of exit nor ocean, but what might easily be taken for a highland lake. Deep, round, almost smothered in foliage, and nestling at the feet of high mountains, the effect is most pictur- esque. On the left of the island as you go in, there
