There is a beach of sand, which extends eighteen leagues from the harbour of Acapulco to the westward, against which the sea breaks so violently that with our boats it would be impossible to land on any part of it, but yet the ground is so clean that during the fair season ships may anchor in great safety at the distance of a mile or two from the shore. The land adjacent to this beach is generally low, full of villages, and planted with a great number of trees, and on the tops of some small eminencies there are several lookout towers, so that the face of the country affords a very agreeable prospect: for the cultivated part, which is the part here described, extends some leagues back from the shore, where it seems to be bounded by a chain of mountains which stretch to a considerable distance on either side of Acapulco. It is a most remarkable particularity that in this whole extent, containing in appearance the most populous and best planted district of the whole coast, there should be neither canoes, boats, nor any other embarkations, either for fishing, coasting, or for pleasure. This cannot be imputed to the difficulty of landing, because in many parts of Africa and Asia, where the same inconvenience occurs, the inhabitants have provided against it by vessels of a peculiar fabric. I therefore conceive that the government, to prevent smuggling, have prohibited the use of all kinds of small craft in that district. The beach here described is the surest guide to those who {240} are desirous of finding the harbour of Chequetan, for five miles to the westward of the extremity of this beach there appears a hummock, which at first makes like an island, and is in shape not very unlike the hill of Petaplan, hereafter mentioned, though much smaller. Three miles to the westward of this hummock is a white rock near the shore which cannot easily be passed by unobserved. It is about two cables'-length from the land, and lies in a large bay, about nine leagues over. The west point of this bay is the hill of Petaplan, with the view of the islands of Quicara and Quibo. This hill of Petaplan, like the forementioned hummock, may be at first mistaken for an island, though it be in reality a peninsula, which is joined to the continent by a low and narrow isthmus, covered over with shrubs and small trees. The bay of Seguataneio extends from this hill a great way to the westward, and it appears by a plan of the bay of Petaplan, which is part of that of Seguataneio, that at a small distance from the hill, and opposite to the entrance of the bay, there is an assemblage of rocks which are white from the excrements of boobies and tropical birds. Four of these rocks are high and large, and together with several smaller ones, are, by the help of a little imagination, pretended to resemble the form of a cross, and are called the White Friars. These rocks, as appears by the plan, bear W. by N. from Petaplan, and about seven miles to the