Pyramid of Papantla.
Sixteen leagues from the sea and fifty-two north of Vera Cruz, on the eastern slope of the Cordilleras, lies the village of Papantla, in the midst of plains which are constantly fertilized by streams that descend from the mountains. It is the centre of a remarkably rich agricultural district, capable of producing the most luxuriant crops of pepper, coffee, tobacco, cotton, vainilla, sugar and sarsaparilla, and abounding in all varieties of valuable woods; but the heat and maladies of the burning climate prevent the whites from venturing to till so dangerous a district. Accordingly we find that this Indian village has hardly a single Spanish inhabitant or visiter except the priest and the traders who come from the coast to traffic their foreign goods for the products of the aborigines. Two leagues