New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1869-07-24

commerce pointed to Tebuantepec as the great
Isthmian route. , IA "a
It is pleasant to think that the construction
of the proposed new line will involve no sacri-
fee of life, and that those who are to labor
upon il NAV even consider themselves engaged
in sort of "health trip to the Tropics"
TOWNS, POPULATION, AND PRODUCTIONS.
To still further disabuse the minds of his
readers of the notion that the proposed road
is to pass through a primeyal wilderness, Mr..
Stevens gives a brief account Of some of the
towns on or near the line Of the route.
Eight miles west of Minatitlan is the village
of Chinameca, of 1,400 inhabitants, whose an
Gent and beautiful church contains remark
able altar service of natiUe silUeT. Near this is
coffee plantation containing some 1000 trees.
Jaltipan, Eve miles south-westerly, was the
birthplace of the romantic Malinche, the beau
tiful mistress Of COrtez 1t has population
of 1900 The inhabitants raise considerable
quantities of maize, sugar-cane, tobacco, and
ixtle, or Indian hemp. Nine miles southwest
from Jaltipan Is Tesstepec, with population OF
1900, mostly Indians. In this neighborhood, the
cattle are numerous and excellent; CONSIDER
able manufactures Of shoes and cigars are car
RED on while the remarkably fertile soil pro-
duces tobacco, rice maize, sugar-caner ana
ixtle, in abundance.
The town of st. Martin Acayucan is the
most important place on the Isthmus north
of the mountains, and is the capital OF
the district of the same name. The soil of the
surrounding country 10 very fertile, and the
town contains $500 inhabitants. Beside the
other products mentioned above, this vicinity
produces cacao and q number of esculents.
The surrounding forests abound in valuable
trees. Most of the trade of Acayucan is car
ried on through the Paso San Juan, to Vera
Cruz, and In time of prosperity the annual ex-
ports of cotton and ixtle alone, through the
PasO, have amounted to $1250,0O0.
The central OF mountainous belt though, as
we have seen, by no means destitute of re-
sources, seems to be almost destitute of pOpu-
lation, except a small settlement at the head of
canoe navigation on the Goatzacoalcos river
From this point, limited amount of trans
pOrtation, by mule trains, is carried on between
the Gulf and Pacific slopes. There are many
remains of ancient Indian tribes scattered
through all the forest country, most Of whom
are indolent, ignorant, and uncivilized, though
some of the tribes are still quite numerous.
Santa Maria Petapa, some miles westward of
the line of the road, was once a considerable
town, but now contains only about 1900 inhab
itants. Its church, a rectangular building, 200
feet by so, is in good preservation, though
over three centuries old. South Of this, and
embraced within the limits of the estates of the
Marquesanas or descendants of COrtez, are nu-
merous small settlements, and some fine plan
tatiOns, on which corn and other products are
raised to fair extent.
The scenery of the Pacific slope of the Cor
dilleras is described as of unsurpassed magnif
cence but the forests are perhaps of the greatest
interest to the railway, as they contain abund-
anee of live oak, pine, cypress, and other tim
Der, valuable for construction purposes. There
are also a number of valuable mineral springs,
which, surrounded by such scenery and in such
q climate, are likely, some day, to become IA
vorite resorts for invalids from the North
Not TO mention many smaller places de-
scribed in the book, the towns of Itztaltepec,
with 1900, and Juchitan, with G,0O0, honest and
industrious inhabitants, carry on numerous man
ufaetOries of hats, shoes, cotton cloth, hides
buckskins. mats, hammOcks, &C., beside raising |
large quantities of maize, indigo, and fruit, ex-
porting valuable woods, tallOw, and gum arabic |
y The largest town in the State of Oaxaca is
Tehuantepec itself, with 1900 Inhabitants. 1t
has 10 churches, one of which was built by
COcjop, the last Cacique of the Zapoticos, in
1880. Its manufactures and commerce are quite
respectable, and it only needs the stimulus of
railway communication with the interior and |
regular connections with the outside CONNER
cial world, to speedily become a town of no
ordinary Importance. We quote the conclud- |
ing remarks of Mr.. Stevens in full:
4" The coup dali from the summit of the Cerro |
del Iigre is pleasing and picturesque in the |
greatest degree. But age, decay, war; and n |
hundred calamtieS, have swept away the city's |
greatness, and everything now wears the gray |
and grief-worn aspect of Olden days The houses |
are OF massive structure, like antique fortresses
and of "a style that might have rivaled those of |
more classic lands. But where once was wealth, |
hope, and comfort, the spider weaves his web. |
Westward, the Tehuantepec river is visible |
clear, and winding through many a league its |
banks margued with fields of grain and the /
houses of old, aristOcTatic landhOders. West /
ward further still, is the mountain of Guien- |
COLA, with its ruined city, its broken arches and |
crumbling columns. Looking south, lies Ven
tosa, and the granite hills of the MORO, divid- |
ing it from Salina Cruz. There are plains, |
here there, and everywhere, watered by MANY
a stream clothed with luxuriant woods, decked |
with fields, ripe aud in blossom, and smiling !
with an eternal, spTing-like beauty.
Immediately south, and in close proximity to |
NentOsa, is o broad, rich plain, which offers in |
comparable advantages for the location of /
city, Free from overflow, or the presence of |
masmatic marshes, and with abundant sources |
of delightful water on either side, it is but rea-
sonable to conclude that, before many years, the
dense forest which now studs the plain viii give |
place TO cheerful habitations, and that where |
now only is the abode of the bird and the in |
sect will be heard the hum and the hustle of |
life's business"