Departure from New Orleans-Peak of Orizaba-St. Juan de Ulloa-City of Vera Cruz-The Vomito-Condition of the Negro Population-Mexican system of Servitude-New Custom House-Mexican and American contrasts.
Nor finding, on my arrival at New Orleans, the vessel which had been ordered there to carry me to Vera Cruz and aware of the deep and general interest which was felt in the fate of the Texan prisoners of the Santa Fé Expedition, I determined to avail myself of the first conveyance which presented itself. The revenue cutter Woodbury was politely offered me by the Collector of the port of New Orleans, which I gladly accepted. The fine sailing qualities of this admirable little vessel, and the kindness of its excellent and most skilful officers, Capt. Nones and Lieutenants Faunce- and Wilson, left me no cause to regret this determination. We left New Orleans on the 2d of April, 1842, and on the 9th were in sight of the Peak of Orizaba: but, from adverse winds, and no winds at all, we did not enter the harbor of Vera Cruz until the 10th, when we anchored under the walls of the famous castle of St. Juan de Ulloa. Few sights can be more grand and imposing than the mountain of Orizaba, as seen from the