Page:Mexico in 1827 Vol 1.djvu/577

Rh intermissions, during which time we cleared away the greatest part of the water and rubbish in the shaft.

Since the 25th of November, we have been idle for want of funds.

2em

Real de Catorce, 4th January, 1827.

From Tampico to Altamira, we brought all the machinery through the lake in canoes; the distance is six leagues.

Province of Texas lies between the 27th and 36th degrees of North lat., and the 94th and 103rd parallels of West longitude. It contains about one hundred and sixty millions of English acres. In the Northern part the climate differs but little from that of the South of Europe, of Buenos Ayres, and the Cape of Good Hope. To the South the White settlers from the United States experience no ill effects from exposure to the sun. Few countries possess so large a proportion of rich land, or are so capable of supporting a dense population.

The coast is low, and swampy during the rainy season, when it becomes unhealthy. It is skirted by a number of islands separated from the main land by narrow straits. The most considerable of these is San Luis, or Galveston, the eastern-most point of which shelters the harbour of that name. The Bay of Espiritu Santo is the next harbour of importance, and this, from the frequency of shoals, cannot be frequented by vessels drawing more than eight or ten feet water.

The anchorage is generally good, and as the water shoals gradually, vessels approaching the coast may be guided entirely by the lead.

Few countries are better supplied with navigable rivers, streams, and rivulets, than Texas. Nevertheless, excepting along a part of the coast, and on the banks of the Red River, near the Great Raft, no such inundations take place as to render the adjacent district periodically unhealthy. The depth of the water on the bars at the mouth of the principal rivers is not