YUCATAN is the most easterly province of the kingdom of New Spain, and is in the form of a peninsula, jutting out into the gulf of Mexico from the main land of the isthmus; it is surrounded on the north-west by the waters of the Mexican gulf; by the bay or gulf of Honduras on the south-east; the province of Vera Cruz bounds it on the south-west, and Vera Paz in Guatimala on the south. Here it is connected with the continent of North America, by an isthmus of about 120 miles in breadth. The English have settlements extending a short distance along the east coast of Yucatan, opposite Ambergris Key. The soil of this peninsula is very prolific, and when under proper cultivation, produces great crops of corn, maize, indigo and cotton. The climate is hot, their summer beginning in April and finishing in September, but January and February are very warm months, the rest of the winter cooler, and little or no rain falls throughout that season. The north side is the pleasantest, for although very hot, it is refreshed by gentle breezes; on the whole the climate of Yucatan is not an unhealthy one. It produces and sustains vast quantities of cattle, fowls, and bees; honey and wax, are therefore plenty; and its forests afford shelter to various kinds of wild beasts. It has no mines, for which reason it is not much settled by the whites, the chief part of its inhabitants being Indians, who are employed in making salt in Campeachy Bay, and are subject to the Spaniards. On the coasts of Yucatan, large pieces of amber are frequently found. There is a ridge of considerable mountains pervades the whole extent of this province, which extends from the eastern side at Merida to the western extremity of the peninsula; on this range of mountains, the climate is very fine, and it is asserted that the natives live to a great age. On the north side of this chain the land is refreshed with breezes, and contains plenty of springs; but the southern side is in want of good water, ill cultivated and thinly peopled, the settlers being chiefly on the north. In Merida the nights and days are nearly of a length owing to its situation. In Yucatan there are very few rivers of any consequence, but springs are numerous, especially on the north side, and in digging for their wells, in which they always find water at a little depth, shells are usually found, from which, with the shallowness of the sea near the coast, it has been supposed that the greater part of the peninsula was once submerged. The eastern coast of Yucatan is not inhabited by Spanish colonists, the English alone appearing there, except in the small fort of Bacalar, which has been built to prevent the British from going into the interior. The British logwood cutters find that article in greatest perfection in Campeachy Bay, and in the Bay of Honduras; but it has been said that the logwood of Campeachy is more plentiful, as well as greatly superior to that of Honduras.