CAMPECHE, or CAMPEACHY, from Cam, which in the :Maya language signifies serpent, and pcchr, the little insect (acarus), called by the Spaniards garapata, which penetrates the skin, and occasions a smart pain ; a town of America, in New Spain, situated in the intendancy of Merida, on the western side of a bay of the same name, which forms part of the gulf of Mexico. It stands on the Rio de san Francisco, and has a harbour which is large and shallow. The houses are built of stone ; it has a good dock, and a fort which commands both the town and har bour. The exportation of the wax of Yucatan is one of the most lucrative branches of trade, but, owing to the insecurity of the harbour, vessels are obliged to anchor a good Ivay from the shore. Between Campeche and Meri da are two very considerable Indian villages, called Xam polan and Equetchecan.
The Campeche wood, (Hcenzatoxylon Campechianum,) grows in great abundance in the neighbouring county. An annual cutting (Cortes do Palo Campeche, takes place on the banks of the river Champoton, the embouchure of which is south of the town of Campeche, and within four leagues of the small village of Lerma. " It is only with an extraordinary permission," says Humboldt, " from the intendant of Merida, who bears the title of governor captain general, that the merchant can, from time to time, cut down campeche wood to the cast of the mountains near the bays of Ascension, Todos los Santos, and El Espirito Santo. In these creeks of the eastern coast, the
English carry on an extensive and lucrative contraband trade. The campeche wood, after being cut down, must dry for a year, before it can be sent to Vera Cruz, the Ha wallah, or Cadiz. The quintal of this dried wood (halo de tinta,) is sold at Campeche for two piastres to two pias tres and a half (from 8s. 9d. to los. l Id.) The hxma toxylon, so abundant in Yucatan and the Honduras coast, is also to be found scattered throughout all the forests of equinoctial America, wherever the mean temperature of the air is not below 22 degrees of the centigrade thermo meter, (71° of Fahrenheit). The coast of Florida, in the province of New Andalusia, may one day carry on a con siderable trade in Campeche and Brazil wood, which it produces in great abundance." The habitual population of the town is 6000. West Long. 30', North Lat. 19° 3u'. See Humboldt's Political Essay on the Kingdom of New Spain, vol. ii. p. 247, 248, 249 ; see also the ar ticle BueeANEEns in this work, vol. v. p. 32, col. 2. (Tr)