Page:United States v. Samperyac.pdf/21

138 Rh   given their depositions before the honorable Gillen Preval, purporting to be Spanish orders of survey. The signatures are not in the handwriting of governor Miro or Gayoso, as they purport to be. Deponent is well acquainted with the signatures of those governors, having seen their genuine signatures to many different records. Deponent further says, that said papers are not in the form in which Spanish orders of survey were given, but that the form annexed to the depositions of Mr. Tessier and Mr. Mercier, were adopted in all orders of survey, except when the nature of the place to be surveyed required a different form. He further states, that he has seen the deposi tion of Hilary B. Cenas, register of the land-office at New Orleans; and that deponent, when register of the same office, made a similar search with the same result. Charles Tessier deposes that he was a clerk in the office of the late Spanish government, from the commencement of the year 1790 to the end of the year 1802; that he was acquainted with the handwriting of governor Miro, and Manuel Gayoso de Lemos, from seeing them write frequently; and says, positively, that the signature of Miro presented to him, and appended to the order of survey in this case, and which has been signed by me, nevariator, is not in the handwriting of said governor Miro; that the decree or order of survey is not in the form used and prescribed in such case, nor is it recorded, as was the usual practice, in granting lands by the governor; that the practice was to insert at the foot of the said order, the word "reg'd," with the flourish of the recording clerk; further, that the spelling of the said decree is not according to the rules of Spanish orthography, and that the clerks, whose duty it was to write such orders, were all good Spanish scholars, and would not have been permitted to use such spelling in any official business; that the handwriting of the aforesaid order of survey is not that of any of the clerks that were, at that time, employed in that department of the government, the deponent being well acquainted with the handwriting of all the clerks who wrote in the office during the time he was in the employ of the government, and he is also acquainted with the handwriting of those that preceded him for many years.