Page:Mexico in 1827 Vol 1.djvu/579

Rh of the United States had in view was to open a channel for communication with New Mexico, and for the Indian traffic.

Some branches of this trade have already proved very lucrative; for, in addition to small quantities of the precious metals,—copper, wool, and very valuable hides and peltries, have been obtained in exchange for articles of little value. The Indians require but few things;—beads, small looking-glasses, common guns and rifles, a kind of baize, red and blue, called by the North Americans strouding, knives, awls, vermilion, and ammunition. Of spirits they are passionately fond, and will make any sacrifice to obtain them; but to supply them with these, which act almost as a poison, and have not unfrequently given rise to assassinations, and other atrocities, is prohibited by law. The hides, and skins, and peltries obtainable, are those of the buffalo, horned cattle, horse, panther, leopard, bear, deer, antelope, racoon, black fox, musk rat, and beaver, and they are of the best quality.

The rivers Brazos and Colorado de Texas are the next in importance to the Red River. Both are navigable to a very considerable distance from the coast; but near their mouths are subject to occasional inundations. The Guadalupe is scarcely inferior to those already named. The Nueces, Trinidad, and San Antonio, are likewise fine streams, and in size about equal to the Sabina, which forms the boundary. The Navasoto, Angulino, and Neckas, San Jacinto, and Arroyo de Cedros, are navigable to a great extent, except at certain periods; and the Arroyo de la Vaca (or Lovelace River), which runs but a short distance into the Interior, has, it is stated, nine feet water upon its bar. The rivulets and minor streams are innumerable. As in Devonshire, almost every valley has its stream or brook; and judging from the small fish which I observed in them, I should conceive the greater number to be perennial.

The low lands, which extend along the coast, are admirably adapted to the cultivation of rice. In some parts sugar, and in others cotton, may be produced, similar to that of the Sea Islands. The central part of Texas is prairie, nearly level, and abounding with a most luxuriant vegetation; the banks of the rivers being lined with timber, or skirted by ground, gently undulating, and covered with trees. Here the depth of rich