CHAPTER SEVEN.
THE CITY OF THE TRUE CROSS.
Vera Cruz is a fortified city.

Round and round it is girt by a wall, with regular batteries placed at intervals.

You enter it from the land side by three gates (_garitas_), and from the sea by a beautiful pier or mole that projects some distance into the water.

The latter is a modern construction; and when the sun is descending behind the Mexican Cordilleras to the west, and the breeze blows in from the Gulf, this mole--the seat of but little commercial activity--becomes the favourite promenade of the dark-eyed Vera-Cruzanas and their pallid lovers.
The city stands on the very beach.

The sea at full tide washes its battlements, and many of the houses overlook the water.