Papantla may be reached in two days on horseback. (See p. 46.)
Valuable petroleum-wells are found in the vicinity, and two American companies have already erected works to refine the oil.[1] The petroleum occurs chiefly in the State of Vera Cruz, between the Panúco and Tuxpan Rivers. The wells are mostly near the coast, at Chapapote, Santa Teresa, Juan Felipe, Escondida, Sepultura, Carribajal, Monte Grande, Paso Grande, and on the borders of the Laguna de Tamiahua. There are submerged stone ruins in this lagoon. A railroad from this port toward the City of Mexico is projected, but it will probably be several years before the work of construction is finished.
It should be borne in mind that passengers can disembark at Bagdad, Tampico, and Tuxpan in good weather only. During severe northers they are taken to Vera Cruz.
Route III.
FROM NEW YORK TO LAREDO, TEXAS, EITHER VIA ST. LOUIS, MISSOURI, OR NEW ORLEANS, LOUISIANA; OR TO EL PASO, TEXAS, EITHER VIA TEXAS AND PACIFIC RAILWAY, OR ATCHISON, TOPEKA AND SANTA FE RAILROAD.
Fares from New York to Laredo, $69.15 unlimited, and $58.80 limited; and from New York to El Paso, $74.60 unlimited, and $64.85 limited.
(For description of these routes from New York southward, see Appletons' General Guide to the United States. )
Sections IV and V of Part Second describe respectively the routes from Laredo and El Paso to the interior of Mexico.
- ↑ The Vera Cruz Oil Company was organized at Boston in 1881. Mr. Thomas Nickerson, Hon. B. F. Butler, and others, are shareholders. A well has been drilled to a depth of 372 feet, and filled with a five-inch casing. Experts say that this oil is very promising, and that there is only eight per cent waste. Land is cheap, the rate of taxation is low, and there is a duty of 27 cents a gallon on imported petroleum.
