Page:Mexico in 1827 Vol 2.djvu/611

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MEXICO IN 1827
591

Colonel Bourne entered Cinaloa, (to the South of Sonora, properly so called,) by its Southern boundary, the river Cañas, or Bayona, (it is known by both names,) which separates the State of Sonora and Cinaloa from that of Guadalajara, or Jalisco. From thence he proceeded to Rosario, the first mining town of importance in the Southern part of the State, and the depôt for the port of Măzătlān, from which it is distant twenty-five leagues. Rosario contains a population of 6000 inhabitants; Măzătlān, though rising into importance as a port, consists entirely of huts, composed of mats, hides, and palm-leaves, all the principal merchants connected with the East India trade having their residences at Rosario, or at the Presidio of Măzătlān, (nine leagues inland,) where the climate and water are better than the immediate vicinity of the port.

At Mazatlan, Colonel Bourne, whose object was to inspect the mining districts in the North of Sonora, (300 leagues from Rosario,) embarked for Gūāymăs, in lieu of performing the journey by land, where he arrived after a tedious passage of fifteen days. The voyage does not usually exceed eight.

Guaymas is situated in latitude 27.40 North, about the middle of the Gulf of California, and both Mr. Glennie and Colonel Bourne state it to be a magnificent harbour, capable of containing two hundred vessels, and sheltered from all winds by the lofty hills surrounding it, and by an island, which