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140 Rh   consent of parties. He deposes that he was born in Louisiana, and has never had any grant nor any order of survey for any land in the Territory of Arkansas; that his father was of the same name with himself, and that, to the best of his knowledge, his father has never had any land in the Territory of Arkansas; that he is well acquainted with all the names of the French and Spanish inhabitants of Louisiana, as having kept a public office in New Orleans; and that he knows no person, except his father and himself, of the name of Martin Durald; that he had a brother by the name of Joseph V. Durald, and that, to the best of his knowledge, his said brother never had any land in the Territory of Arkansas.

From the testimony, it is manifest that the order of survey in this case is not to be found recorded in the record book at New Orleans, in which it was usual and customary to record any order of survey made from 1786 to 1799. The same fact is also proved in relation to every case amounting to upwards of one hundred, now pending before this court, upon bills of review.

Tessier, Mercier, Preston, and Cenas, all depose to this fact; Tessier, Mercier, Cruzat, all of them well acquainted with the handwriting of Governor Miro, and having frequently seen him write, swear that the name of Miro, signed to the order of survey in this case, is not in his handwriting, and therefore not genuine. Cenas, the present register, and Preston, the late register of the land-office at New Orleans, both swear that they have seen many genuine signatures of Governor Miro; and from the comparison with the present order of survey, the signature is not in the handwriting of Governor Miro. Tessier, Mercier, and Cruzat, depose that they are well acquainted with the handwriting of all the clerks who wrote in the Spanish governor's office, at New Orleans, and that the order of survey in this case, is not in the handwriting of any clerk who ever wrote in the said office, and that the form of the order of survey in this case, is not in the form used by the Spanish government; Cenas and Preston also swear to this latter fact; Tessier and Mercier swear that Hebrard was never seen in the governor's office, at New Orleans.