Page:Vol 3 History of Mexico by H H Bancroft.djvu/367

Rh by the savages on Laredo, but they were soon repulsed and driven beyond the frontier.

At the time of Cuervo's arrival at Soto la Marina he found a schooner belonging to Escandon anchored in the harbor. This is the first craft known to have traded between Vera Cruz and Nuevo Santander. The master, Bernardo Vidal Buzcarrones, informed Cuervo as to the general condition of the coast, anchorage, and the different sand-bars he had examined at the mouths of various rivers. According to his opinion prospects for shipping were not at all encouraging, as during the greater part of the year only small craft were able to cross the bars and find a safe harbor. Then Cuervo made a tour of inspection with the schooner himself, during which he came to the same unfavorable conclusion.

More improvements were made in 1763. The sites of Escandon, Búrgos, and Reinosa were changed; new settlements were founded, and the settlers received assistance from the government. For fifteen years the lands in the vicinity of the colonies had been used in common, but in 1764, by order of Viceroy Cruíllas, they began to be segregated. The following year the town Cruíllas was founded, and in 1766 San Cárlos was established. From this time until the end of the century the colonists were enabled to breathe more freely; all the settlements rapidly improved; several mines were discovered and worked; stock-raising increased; and merchants and dealers from Mexico, Huasteca, Sierra Gorda, San Luis Potosí, and other parts of the country began to frequent the flourishing towns of Nuevo Santander.