Page:Mexico (1829) Volumes 1 and 2.djvu/48

18 MEXICO. industry, to enjoy all the advantages of Transatlantic arts, and to bring to her own door the luxuries of the highest civi- lization. With the necessaries of life she is abundantly pro- vided within herself, as will be seen by the following sections, which will contain a general account of her population and productions. A great maritime power she likewise cannot be, for her ports, on the Atlantic side, are barely sufficient for the pur- poses of commerce, and were, certainly, never intended by nature for naval depots. Most of them are insecure, and some, mere roadsteads. The entrance to her principal rivers is obstructed by sand bars ; and though art may, in some measure, correct these deficiencies, yet it cannot give what nature has denied, a harbour of sufficient magnitude to be- come a fit station for any considerable maritime force. For- tunately, this is not in any way essential to the prosperity of the country, as the vicinity of the United States, and the multitude of European vessels which seek the ports of Mexi- co with the manufactures of their respective countries, will afford sufficient facilities for the exportation of her raw pro- duce, to whatever extent it may be carried. On the Western coast, the case is different. From Aca- piilco to Guaymas, (in the Gulph of California,) there is a series of magnificent ports, many of which no vessel has ever yet entered. Acapulco itself (the finest harbour, perhaps, in the world,) is but little frequented ; its importance ceased with the trade of the galleons, nor is it likely ever to recover its former fame. The China and India trade has taken a dif- ferent line, most of the ships engaged in it discharging their cargoes at the ports of San Bias, Mazatlan, and Giiaymas ; the demand for China goods being found to be greater on the Northern, and Western part of the Table-land, which is not yet sufficiently supplied with European manufactures, than in the Capital, where the market is absokitely glutted. Many years, however, must elapse before the commerce of