STATISTICALX. Intendancy of San Luis Potosi. ANALYSIS. which I have given of Mexico and the adjacent countries on the east, we shall see that there is still a great way from the bay of St. Bernard to the mouth of the Rio del Norte. Hence the Mexicans very justly allege in their favour that the Spanish population of Texas is of a very old date, and that it was brought in the early periods of the conquest, by Linares, Revilla and Camargo, from the interior of New Spain; and that M. de Lasale, on disembarking to the west of the Mississippi, found Spaniards at that time among the savages whom he endeavoured to combat. At present, the intendant of San Luis Potosi considers the Rio Mermentas, or Mexicana, which flows into the Gulph of Mexico to the east of the Rio de Sabina, as the eastern limit of the province of Texas, and consequently of his whole intendancy. It may be useful to observe here, that this dispute as to the true boundaries of New Spain can only become of importance when the country, brought into cultivation by the colonists of Louisiana, shall come in contact with the territory inhabited by Mexican colonists; when a village of the province of Texas shall be constructed near a village of the county of the Opelousas. Fort Clayborne, situated near the old Spanish mission of the Adayes (Adaes or Adaisses), on the Red River, is the settlement of Louisiana which ap STATISTICAL ANALYSIS. X. Intendancy of San Luis Potosi. }X. proaches nearesttothe military posts (presidios) of the province of Texas; and yet there are nearly 68 leagues from the presidio of Nacogdoch to Fort Clayborne. Vast steppes, covered with gramina, serve for common boundaries between the American confederation and the Mexican territory. All the country to the west of the Mississippi, from the Ox River to the Rio Colorado of Texas, is uninhabited. These steppes, partly marshy, present obstacles very easily overcome. We may consider them as an arm of the sea which separates adjoining coasts, but which the industry of new colonists will soon penetrate. In the United States the population of the Atlantic provinces flowed first towards the Ohio and the Tenessee, and then towards Louisiana. A part of this fluctuating population will soon move farther to the westward. The very name of Mexican territory will suggest the idea of proximity of mines; and on the banks of the Rio Mermentas the American colonists will already in imagination possess a soil abounding in metallic wealth. This error, diffused among the lower people, will give rise to new emigrations; and they will only learn very late that the famous mines of Catorce, which are the nearest to Louisiana, are still more than 300 leagues distant from it. Several of my Mexican friends have gone the STATISTICAL X. Intendancy of San Luis Potosi. ANALYSIS. road from New Orleans to the capital of New Spain. This road, opened by the inhabitants of Louisiana, who come to purchase horses in the provincias internas, is more than 540 leagues in length, and is consequently equal to the distance from Madrid to Warsaw. This road is said to be very difficult from the want of water and habitations; but it presents by no means the same natural difficulties as must be overcome in the tracks along the ridge of the Cordilleras from Santa Fe in New Grenada to Quito, or from Quito to Cusco. It was by this road of Texas that an intrepid traveller, M. Pagés, captain in the French navy, went in 1767 from Louisiana to Acapulco. The details which he furnishes relative to the intendancy ofSan Luis Potosi, and the road from Queretaro to Acapulco, which I travelled thirty years afterwards, display great precision of mind and love of truth; but, unfortunately, this traveller is so incorrect in the orthography of Mexican and Spanish names, that we can with difficulty find out from his descriptions the places through which he passed*. The road from Louisiana to Mexico presents very few obstacles until the Rio del Norte, *M. Pagés calls Loredo, la Rheda; the fort de la Bahia del Esperitu Santo, Labadia; Orquo quissas, Acoquissa; Saltillo, le Sartille; Cohahuila, Cuwilla. STATISTICAL}X. Intendancy of San Luis Potosi, and we only begin from the Saltillo to ascend towards the table-land of Anahuac. The declivity of the Cordillera is by no means rapid there; and we can have no doubt, considering the progress of civilization in the new continent, that land communication will become gradually very frequent between the United States and New Spain. Public coaches will one day roll on from Philadelphia and Washington to Mexico and Acapulco. The three counties of the state of Louisiana, or New Orleans, which approach nearest to the desert country considered as the eastern limit of the province of Texas, are, reckoning from south to north, the counties of the Attacappas, of the Opeloussas, and of the Natchitoches. The latest settlements of Louisiana are on a meridian which is twenty-five leagues east from the mouth of the Rio Mermentas. The most northern town is Fort Clayborne of Nachitoches, seven leagues east from the old situation of the mission of the Adayes. To the north-east of Clayborne is the Spanish Lake, in the midst of which there is a great rock covered with stalactites. Following this lake to the south-south-east, we meet in the extremities of this fine country, brought into cultivation by colonists of French origin, first, with the small village of St. Landry, three leagues to the north of the sources of the Rio Mermentas; then the STATISTICAL) X. Intendancy of San Luis Potosi. plantation of St. Martin; and, lastly, New Iberia,, on the river Teche, near the canal of Bontet, which leads to the lake of Tase. As there is no Mexican settlement beyond the eastern bank of the Rio Sabina, it follows that the uninhabited country which separates the villages of Louisiana from the missions of Texas amounts to more than 1500 square leagues. The most southern part of these savannas, between the bay of Carcusin and the bay of la Sabina, presents nothing but impassable marshes. The road from Louisiana to Mexico goes therefore farther to the north, and follows the parallel of the 32d degree. From Natchez travellers strike to the north of the lake. Cataouillou, by Fort Clayborne of Natchitoches; and from thence they pass by the old situation of the Adayes to Chichi, and the fountain of Father Gama. An able engineer, M. Lafond, whose map throws much light on these countries, observes, that eight leagues north from the post of Chichi there are hills abounding in coal, from which a subterraneous noise is heard at a distance like the discharge of artillery. Does this curious phenomenon announce a disengagement of hydrogen produced by a bed of coal in a state of inflammation? From the Adayes the road of Mexico goes by San Antonio de Bejar, Loredo (on the banks of the Rio grande del Norte), |