and the mails. Matamoros, in the State of Tamaulipas, is a port of entry, and lies on the south bank of the Rio Grande, opposite Brownsville in Texas, and about thirty miles from the mouth of the river. The population is about 12,000. A railroad is in progress toward the city of Monterey. Another is projected southward to Tampico. (See Section XII.)
Leaving Bagdad, we sail southward, keeping out of sight of land almost all the way to Tampico. On reaching the latter port the passengers, freight, and mail are transferred to a small sail-boat and carried over the bar at the mouth of the Rio Tampico to the town of the same name about nine miles distant. There is a small hotel at Tampico, and the population numbers 7,000.
Ten miles to the northward is the Rio Panúco, famous in the history of New Spain as being the terminus of Grijalva's voyage from Cuba along the coast of the Gulf of Mexico, and also noted as the spot where the remnant of De Soto's band of explorers landed in their unfortunate voyage southward from the mouth of the Mississippi.
The Rio Panúco is about one thousand feet wide, and is said to be navigable for a distance of twenty miles from its mouth. Small steamers connect Tampico with stage-coaches for San Luis Potosí via Ciudad del Maiz.
A branch of the Mexican Central Railway is being constructed from Tampico toward the city of San Luis Potosí. (For description, see Section V.)
From Tampico the steamship proceeds to Tuxpan, where passengers, freight, and mails are landed by means of a small sailing-vessel. The town lies nine miles above the mouth of the Tuxpan River, and has about 4,000 inhabitants. This river is navigable for about thirty miles, but there is only six feet of water on the bar at high tide. No hotel accommodations are to be had in Tuxpan.
