MATAMOROS, a city of Mexico, in the province of Tamaulipas, on the southern bank of the Rio Grande, about 35 miles from its mouth, and directly opposite Brownsville in Texas. Built in an open plain, Matamoros has its streets laid out with great regularity; and the general appearance gives evidence at once of its recent rise into importance and of the influence of the architectural fashions of the United States. The principal building is the large but heavy-looking cathedral. An extensive traffic, both legitimate and contraband, is carried on between Matamoros and Brownsville, and in spite of the bar at the mouth of the river, which in foul weather prevents the entrance even of small schooners, the place is not without its value to Mexico as a foreign port. The imports of American and of European goods are valued each at about $1,100,000, with a growing preponderance on the side of the American. Cotton, flax, silk, and woollen goods are the main items in the European list; cottons, leaf tobacco, wheat-flour, machinery, and preserved meats in the American. Hides and skins, live animals, and wool are the principal exports apart from coin and bullion, which are largely smuggled to avoid the export duty. The population is about 20,000.

Founded in the beginning of the century, and named in honour of the Mexican patriot Mariano Matamoros, the city has played a part in all the more recent Avars. It was captured by General Taylor of the United States in 1846, was in the hands of the imperialists under Majia in 1864, and was occupied by the French in 1866.