winds, which have the effect of stunting the vegetation both above and below this favoured spot, were it not protected from their violence by an intervening ridge of mountains; while this being exactly the height, at which the clouds suspended over the ocean touch the Cordillera, there is a constant humidity in the atmosphere, which gives a balmy feel to the air, and a delightful freshness to every thing around. After climbing the tedious ascent from Plan del Rio, nearly the whole of which lies through a dreary and monotonous country, the little declivity which forms the last mile and a half of the approach to Jălāpă, seems at all seasons a paradise: but its beauty vanishes the instant that you wander beyond the limits of the enchanted ground. This is more particularly the case on the ascent towards the Tableland, which becomes excessively steep almost immediately after leaving Jălāpă, and continues uninterruptedly so as far as Lăs Vīgăs. The distance between the two points does not exceed eighteen miles, while the difference of elevation amounts to 3,485 feet; we were therefore prepared to expect a great change of temperature, although we were far from calculating upon a transition so sudden and so complete, as that which we experienced.
We left Jălāpă about twelve o'clock on the morning of the 24th of December, with a cloudless sky, and the Thermometer at 70°; but before we got half-way to Lăs Vīgăs, a Norte came on upon the coast, and in an instant we found ourselves enveloped
