The State of Queretaro. The State of New Leon. " State of Guanajuato. " State of Coahuila. " State of Zacatecas. " State of Durango. " State of San Luis Potosi. " State of Chihuahua. THE STATE OF YUCATAN. The State of Yucatan, sometimes known by the name of Merida or Campeché, occupies the greater portion of the peninsula which bounds the southern edge of the Gulf of Mexico. Its eastern side is washed by the Caribbean Sea, and touched by the settlements at Balize; on the south it is bounded by Guatemala; on the west by the Gulf of Mexico and the States of Chiapas and Tabasco, from which it is separated by the river Paicutun that falls into the Laguna de Terminos. Its northern coast extends from Cape Catoché to the Punta de Piedras, about eighty-six leagues; and the whole area of the State is computed at 3,823 square leagues. Yucatan possesses very few streams and none of importance that are known or explored. On the west of the peninsula, debouching into the Gulf of Mexico, there are the rivers or rivulets of Escatalto, Chen, Champoton;--the San Francisco falls into the Bay of Campeché; in the north there are the Silan, the Cedros, and the Conil; while the streams of Bolina, the Rio Nuevo, the Bacalar, the Ascension, and the Honda or Rio Grande pour into the Caribbean Sea. In 1841 the population of the State is stated in a census, taken by order of the government, as follows: Departments. Men. Women. Total. Merida, 48,606 58,663 107,269 Izamal, 32,915 37,933 70,848 Tekax, 58,127 64,697 122,824 Valladolid, 45,353 46,926 92,279 Campeché, 39,017 40,639 79,656 ------- ------- ------- Total, 224,018 248,858 472,876 This census, although it professes to be accurate, may nevertheless be incomplete, inasmuch as the inhabitants of Yucatan, dreading new contributions and detesting military service, endeavor to reduce as much as possible the number of their families in the lists prepared for government. Besides this, it does not appear to comprehend _all_ the departments according to Mühlenpfordt, who divides the State into fifteen departments.[44] The population has been estimated by some careful writers, acquainted with the people and the country, at 525,000 souls; in our table of population on page 42 of this volume, we have on good authority stated the number to be, in 1842, 508,948, while others have increased the number to 600,000 and even to 630,000, which amount is assigned to Yucatan by a census in 1833! The last mentioned number will give about 165 individuals to each square league.[45] * * * * *