STATISTICALX. Intendancy of San Luis Potosi. ANALYSIS. S

another, and where almost no trace of cultivation is any where to be found?

The intendancy of San Luis Potosi comprehends parts of a very heterogeneous nature, the different denominations of which have given great room for geographical errors. It is composed of provinces, of which some belong to the Provincias internas, and others to the kingdom of New Spain Proper. Of the former there are two immediately depending on the commandant of the Provincias internas; the two others are considered as Provincias internas del Vireynato. These complicated and unnatural divisions are explained in the following table:

The intendant of San Luis Potosi A. In Mexico Proper:

governs,

The Province of San Luis, which extends from the Rio de Panuco to the Rio de Santander, and which comprehends the important mines of Charcas, Potosi, Ramos, and Catorce. B. In the Provincias internas del Vireynato: 1. The new kingdom of Leon.

2. The colony of New Santander.

C. In the Provincias internas de la Commandancia general Oriental:

1. The province of Cohahuila.

2. The province of Texas.

VOL. II.

STATISTICAL

ANALYSIS. }X. Intendancy of San Luis Potosi.

It follows, from what we have already said on the latest changes which have taken place in the organization of the Commandancia general of Chihuahua, that the intendancy of San Luis now includes, besides the province of Potosi, all which goes under the denomination of Provincias internas Orientales. A single intendant is consequently at the head of an administration which includes a greater surface than all European Spain. But this immense country, gifted by nature with the most precious productions, and situated under a serene sky in the temperate zone, towards the borders of the tropic, is, for the greatest part, a wild desert, still more thinly peopled than the governments of Asiatic Russia. Its position on the eastern limits of New Spain, the proximity of the United States, the frequency of communication with the colonists of Louisiana, and a great number of circumstances which I shall not endeavour here to develope, will probably soon favour the progress of civilization and prosperity in these vast and fertile regions.

The intendancy of San Luis comprehends more than 230 leagues of coast, an extent equal to that from Genoa to Reggio in Calabria. But all this coast is without commerce and without activity, with the exception of a few small vessels, which

STATISTICAL

ANALYSIS.X. Intendancy of San Luis Potosi.

come from the West Indies to lay in provisions either at the Bar of Tampico, near Panuco, or at the anchorage of New Santander. That part which extends from the mouth of the great Rio del Norte to the Rio Sabina is almost still unknown, and has never been examined by navigators. It would be of great importance, however, to discover a good port in this northern extremity of the gulph of Mexico. Unfortunately, the eastern coast of New Spain offers every where the same obstacles, a want of depth for vessels drawing more than 38 decimetres of water, bars at the mouths of the rivers, necks of land, and long islots, of which the direction is parallel to that of the continent, and which prevent all access to the interior basin. The shore of the provinces of Santander and Texas, from the 21° to the 29° of latitude, is singularly festooned, and presents a succession of interior basins, from four

* 12 feet 5 inches. In page 82 of Vol. I. the author observes, "that the coast of New Spain from the 18° to the 26° of latitude abounds with bars; and vessels which draw more than 32 centimetres (124 inches) cannot pass over any of these bars without danger of grounding." In a former part of this volume, near the close of the statistical description of the intendancy of Mexico, he states that the bar of Tampico prevents the entry of vessels drawing more than from 45 to 60 decimetres (from 14 feet 9 inches to 19 feet 8 inches). See a former note, Vol. II. p. 180. Trans.

STATISTICAL

ANALYSIS.X. Intendancy of San Luis Potosi,

to five leagues in breadth, and 40 to 50 in length. They go by the name of lagunas, or salt-water lakes. Some of them (the Laguna de Tamiagua, for example) are completely shut in. Others, as the Laguna Madre, and the Laguna de San Bernardo, communicate by several channels with the ocean. The latter are of great advantage for a coasting trade, as coasting vessels are there secure from the great swells of the ocean. It would be interesting for geology to examine on the spot if these lagunas have been formed by currents penetrating far into the country by irruptions, or if these long and narrow islots, ranged parallel to the coast, are bars which have gradually risen above the mean level of the waters.

Of the whole intendancy of San Luis Potosi, only that part which adjoins the province of Zacatecas, in which are the rich mines of Charcas, Guadalcazar, and Catorce, is a cold and mountainous country. The bishopric of Monterey, which bears the pompous title of New Kingdom of Leon, Cohahuila, Santander, and Texas, are very low regions; and there is very little undulation of surface in them. This soil is covered with secondary and alluvial formations. They possess an unequal climate, extremely hot in summer, and equally cold in winter, when the north winds

STATISTICAL X. Intendancy of San Luis Potosi.

ANALYSIS.

drive before them columns of cold air from Canada towards the torrid zone.

Since the cession of Louisiana to the United States, the bounds between the province of Texas and the county of Natchitoches (a county which is an integral part of the confederation of American republics), have become the subject of a political discussion, equally tedious and unprofitable. Several members of the Congress of Washington were of opinion that the territory of Louisiana might be extended to the left bank of the Rio bravo del Norte. According to them, "all the country called by the Mexicans the province of Texas anciently belonged to Louisiana. Now the United States ought to possess this last province in the whole extent of rights in which it was possessed by France before its cession to Spain; and neither the new denominations introduced by the vieeroys of Mexico, nor the progress of population from Texas towards the east, can derogate from the lawful titles of the congress." During these debates the American government did not fail frequently to adduce the establishment that M. de Lasale, a Frenchman, formed about the year 1685 near the bay of St. Bernard, without having appeared to encroach on the rights of the crown of Spain.

But on examining carefully the general map