Page:Mexico, Aztec, Spanish and Republican, Vol 2.djvu/193

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BOUNDARIES—DEPARTMENTS—POPULATION.
167

cension, and the Honda or Rio Grande pour into the Caribbean Sea. In 1841 the population of the State is stated in a census, taken by order of the government, as follows:

Departments. Men. Women. Total.
Merida, 48,606 58,663 107,269
Izamal, 32,915 37,933 70,848
Tekax, 58,127 64,697 122,824
Valladolid, 45,353 46,926 92,279
Campeché, 39,017 40,639 79,656
———— ———— ————
Total, 224,018 248,858 472,876

This census, although it professes to be accurate, may nevertheless be incomplete, inasmuch as the inhabitants of Yucatan, dreading new contributions and detesting military service, endeavor to reduce as much as possible the number of their families in the lists prepared for government. Besides this, it does not appear to comprehend all the departments according to Mühlenpfordt, who divides the State into fifteen departments.[1] The population has been estimated by some careful writers, acquainted with the people and the country, at 525,000 souls; in our table of population on page 42 of this volume, we have on good authority stated the number to be, in 1842, 508,948, while others have increased the number to 600,000 and even to 630,000, which amount is assigned to Yucatan by a census in 1833! The last mentioned number will give about 165 individuals to each square league.[2]

The character and quality of the productions of Yucatan may be estimated by the following statistical table, which has been translated and published by Mr. Stephens in the first volume of his Incidents of Travel in that State.

  1. Bacalar, Campeché, Ichmul or Izamal, Isla de Carmen, Jequetchacan, Junoma, Lerma, Mama, Merida, Oxhuscab, Seyba, Playa, Sotula, Tizizimin, and Valladolid. These are the names of the Departments given by Mühlenpfordt: the first table is taken from Stephens.
  2. Our table of population on page 43 of this volume, adds about 10 per cent to this number to give the population estimated in 1850.