Page 277
An.1686
Of the Commerce of Mexico.
We staid here till the 26th day, and then both Vessels being clean, we sailed to the Valley of Balderas to water, for we could not do it here now. In the wet Season indeed here is Water e- nough, for the Brooks then run down plentifully; but now, though there was Water, yet it was bad filling, it being a great way to fetch it from the holes were it lodged. The 28th day we anchored in the bottom of the Bay the Valley of Balderas, right against the River, where we watered before: but this River was brackish now in the dry season; and therefore we went 2 or 3 leagues nearer Cape Cor- rientes, and anchored by a small round Island, not half a mile from the shore. The Island is about 4 leagues to the Northward of the Cape; and the Brook where we filled our water is just within the Island, upon the Main. Here our Strikers struck 9 or 10 Few-fish; some we did eat, and the rest we salted: and the 29th day we fill'd 32 Tuns of very good water.
Having thus provided ourselves, we had nothing more to do, but to put in execution our intended expedition to the East Indies, in hopes of some bet- ter success there, than we had met with on this little frequented Coast. We came on it full of ex- pectations; for besides the richness of the Country, and the probability of finding some Sea Ports worth visiting, we persuaded ourselves that there must needs be Shipping and Trade here, and that Acapulco and La Vera Cruz were to the Kingdom of Mexico, what Panama and Portobel are to that of Pe- ru, viz. Marts for carrying on a constant Commerce between the South and North Seas, as indeed they are. But whereas we expected that this Commerce should be managed by Sea, we found ourselves mistaken: that of Mexico being almost wholly a Land-trade, and managed more by Mules than by Ships: So that instead of profit we met with little on