LatAm Digital Edition and Gazetteer

alcaldía mayor of Chiapa, in the kingdom of Guatemala. Lat. 16° 53' N Long. 93° 52' W. It is situate on the Tobasco river, near the city of Chiapa, and not far from a bay in the S. sea, called Teguantipac.

ACAPAZINGO, San Diego DE, the head settlement of the district and alcaldía mayor of Cuernavaca.

ACAPETLAHUAIA, a settlement of the head settlement of the district of Escateopan, and alcaldía mayor of Zaqualpa. It contains 180 Indian families.

ACAPONETA, the alcaldía mayor of the kingdom of Galicia, and bishopric of Guadalaxara, in Nueva España. Its jurisdiction is reduced. It enjoys various hot and cold temperatures, and has therefore the crops peculiar to both climates; and the same are sown in its district, and produce abundantly. The capital is the town of the same name, situate between the two rivers St. Pedro and de Cartas ; the latter dividing Nueva España from the provinces of Rosario and Cinaloa, as also the bishoprics of Durango and Gaudalaxara, from whence it is distant 83 leagues, W. N. W. It has a convent of the order of St. Francisco. Long. 105° 40' 30". Lat. 22° 43' 30".

ACAPULCO, the capital city of the government of Nueva España, situate on the coast of the S. sea. Its inhabitants amount to nearly 400 families of Chinese, Mulattoes, and Negroes. It has a parish church, with two vicars, and two convents, one of the order of St. Francis, and the other of St. Hyppolite de la Casidad, which is a royal hospital ; an office of public accounts, with an accountant and treasurer for the managing and keeping the accounts of the duties produced by the goods brought in the China ships. The city is small, and the churches and houses are moderately ornamented. The greater part of the city is on the seashore. The air is of an extremely hot and moist temperature ; for, independent of its being in the torrid zone, it is entirely shut oxit from the N. winds, being surrounded by lofty serranias. These circumstances render it very unhealthy, especially in the wet season, on account of the damps and seawinds blowing from the S. E. to the great detriment of the inhabitants and merchants who come to trade here ; this being the principal cause why there are scarcely more than eight Spanish families who reside here. It is equally in want of every sort of provision, owing to the reduced and barren state of the land, and is forced to seek its necessary supplies from the Indian settlements within its jurisdiction. The only commerce which it can be said to have, is afair which is held on the arrival of the ships from China ; and when these depart, there are no other means for the people of maintaining a trade, and if the above resource should happen to fail for three or four years, the place must inevitably be abandoned. At the distance of a musketshot, and on a promontory running far into the sea, is situate the castle and royal fort of San Diego, mounted with 31 pieces of artillery, the greater part of them 24 pounders, for the defence of the entrance of the port, which is safe, and so spacious, that 500 ships can lay at anchor in it with ease. It is surrounded by lofty rising grounds. Its principal mouth is on the S. side, formed by an Island of an oblong figure, and somewhat inclining to the S. W. The same Island forms also Acatlan mouth, which they call chica, or little. The canals on either side of the Island are 25 fathoms deep. The governor of the castle has the rank of castellano, with the title of lieutenant general of the coasts of the S. sea ; and for the defence of these coasts, there are three companies of militia, composed of the the whole of the inhabitants, namely, one company of Chinese, Acatlan another of Mulattoes, and the third of Negroes, who run to arms whenever they hear the cannon fired three times at short intervals. In the settlements of its neighbourhood they grow cotton, maize, and other seeds, vegetables and fruits. They have cattle of the large and small kind, and some tobacco, all of which productions are sufficient for the use of the castle and the city, which is 80 leagues distant from Mexico. — [The famous cut in the mountain, (Abra de San Nicholas), near the bay de la Langosta, for the admission of the sea winds, was recently finished. The population of this miserable town, inhabited almost exclusively by people of colour, amounts to 9000 at the time of the arrival of the Manilla galleon (nao de China). Its habitual population is only 4000. The chief trade of Acapulco continues still to be its commerce with Manilla. The Manilla ship arrives once a year at Acapulco, with a cargo of Indian goods, valued at 12 or 1300,000 dollars, and carries back silver in exchange, with a very small quantity of American produce, and some European goods. Lat. according to Humboldt, 16° 50' 29". Long, by ditto, 99° 46'. Lat. according to the Spaniards, 16° 50' 30". Long, by ditto, 160°. Both longitudes being measured from the meridian of Greenwich.] ACARAGA, a river of the province and government of Paraguay. It rises in the province of the Parana, and running n. enters the Uruguay where is the city of Asuncion. It is navigable by canoes throughout, and abounds in fish.

ALACLATZALA, a branch of the head settlement of the district of S. Luis, of the coast and alcaldia mayor of TIapa in Nueva España. It contains 125 Indian families, and is one league from the settlement of Quanzoquitengo.

ALACRANES, some islands, or rather some hidden rocks, of the N. sea, in the bay of Mexico, opposite the coast of Yucatan. Those who navigate these parts are accustomed to pass round beyond them for fear of venturing amongst them, although there are some good cliannels among them, and withgood soundings. They are for the most part barren, producing nothing beyond a herb called moron, -And deficient in fresh water ; neither do they produce any animal except the mole, which is found here in prodigious numbers. There are, however, a quantity of birds, of three distinct sorts, each forming a community of itself, and entirely separated from the other two ; and it has been observed, that if one party may have fixed upon any place for building their nests, the others never think of disturbing them, or driving them from it ; but the noise these birds make is so great, that one cannot pass near them without suffering considerably from their united clamours.

[ALADAS, a parish situate about 14; leagues s. e, of Corrientes, in Lat. 28° 15' 20" s. Long. 58° SO' e».]

ALAHUIZTLAN, San Juan de, a branch of the head settlement of the district of Escateopan, and alcaldia mayor of Zaqualpa, in Nueva España. It contains 270 Indian families.

ALAIN, a river of the province and government of Mainas in the kingdom of Quito. It rises in the country of the Locamas Indians, runs from j. to n. and turning to the n. n. e. enters the Pucaré.

ALAMEDA, a settlement of the missions belonging to the religious of St. Francis in Nuevo Mexico.

ALAMILLOS, a settlement of the province of Taraumara and kingdom of Nueva Vizcaya ; one of the missions which belonged to the religious of St Francis. It is close to the town and real of the mines of Santa Eulalia.

ALAMO, a settlement of the province and government of the new kingdom of Leon, situate 15 leagues to the s. e. of the Point.

ALAMOS, Real de Los, Real de Los, a settlement and real of the mines of the province of Sinaloa in Nueva España. It is situate s. e. of the Sierra Madre, and surrounded by rich silver mines, which would produce abundantly but for want of labourers. There are in its district five estates that are fertile in maize, French beans, and sugarcane. The spiritual concerns of all these parts

are under the direction of a curate, whose jurisdiction extends as far as the river Mayo, which flows down from the sierra. It is 20 leagues distant from the town of Tuerte, and between these lies the valley of Maquipo. [Population 7900 souls]

Alamos, with the dedicatory title of S. Jorge, a town of the province and captainship of Para in Brazil, founded by Jorge del Alamo, who gave it his name, in a place called La Vigia. It has a magnificent parish church, with the title of Nuestra Senora de Nazareth, with a large and good fort, and well furnished with artillery. Also, at the distance of a league and an half from the settlement, is a house of charity belonging to the religious order of the Capuchins of La Piedad.

Alamos, another town of the province and government of Sonora, in the line that divides the confines of this jurisdiction and the province of Ostimuri, between the rivers Hiaqui and La Sonora.

Alamos (Sonora near Coro de Guachi), another settlement of the same province and government as the former, situate to the s. of the garrison of Coro de Guachi.

Alamos, another of the missions belonging to the abolished society of Jesuits, in the province of Taraumara and kingdom of Nueva Vizcaya. It is 27 leagues s. w. and a quarter of a league s. of the real of the mines and town of S. Felipe de Chiguaga.

Alamos, another settlement and real of the silver mines of the province and government of Cinaloa.

ALANGASI, a settlement of the kingdom of Quito, in the district of the corregimiento of the Cinco Leguas de la Capital. In its territory is a fountain of hot medicinal waters.

Alangasi, a river of the above corregimiento, and rising in the desert mountain of Sincholagua ; over it there is a large bridge, composed of a single arch, but so strong, that when, in 1660, a part of the mountain fell upon it, and precipitated one half of it into the stream, the other half still remained firm and immoveable. This bridge is built of mud and stone.

ALANIS, a settlement of the province and government of Maracaibo, in the district of the city of Merida, situate in the way whicE leads from this city to the new kingdom of Grenada.

ALANGI, Santiago de, a city and head settlement of the district of the province of Chiriqui and government of Santiago de Veragua, in the kingdom of Tierra Firme. It is small, but abounding in fruits and cattle ; in which a regular trade is carried on for supplying the city of Panama. This trade consists principally in pigs.