GENERAL VIEW OF TEXAS.
From whatever point you approach Texas, its aspect is unfavorable. If
it be by sea, you are met by a low, sandy beach and a marshy, flat
country, as far as the eye can reach. If by land, through Louisiana
and Red River, its first appearance is that of a poor country of hilly
land, chiefly covered with wood, and presenting to the eye a weak
soil, alternately of sand and of clay. But when you pass the border
towards the interior, the scene becomes entirely changed. You behold
a beautiful country of rich soil, rounded by the hand of nature into
the most fanciful forms, covered with eternal verdure, and begirt
with forests of stately trees. Earth may not afford a more beautiful
prospect than is obtained from the summit of an elevated prairie. On
such a spot I have stood, and gazed with admiration. The scene extends
all around as far as the eye can reach, and presents the varied aspect
of wood land and lawn, like sunshine and shade. Its appearance is so
much that of a country nicely cultivated by the hand of man, that one
can hardly believe himself to be in an uninhabited region; but he looks
in vain, to catch a glimpse of the husbandman's cottage, and his herds
of cattle feeding on the green fields. The din of human industry and
civilized life strikes not his ear, and the unwelcome truth is forced
upon him at last, that he is only in the solitude of the wilderness;
and the scene before him, with all its beauties, is left "to waste its
sweetness on the desert air!"
The scenes of Texas have so much of fascination about them, that one is
disinclined to come down to the details of a common-place description
of the country. But the whole truth must be told. The public have a
right, and in fairness ought to know, the true state of the case.
The emigrant cannot live on air, or by admiring the beauties of the
country. It is of importance to him to know, what facilities the
country offers, for obtaining the necessaries and conveniences of life;
and what the prospect may be of enjoying them, when obtained.
[Illustration]
In the first place, I shall strike off from the list of the resources
of the country, "the immense herds of buffalo and wild horses." They
are often paraded in the many published descriptions of Texas, as a
most prominent feature in the bright picture exhibited; and as one of
the many inducements to the emigrants to remove thither. But they are
no sort of benefit to the settler at all. They generally keep ahead of
population, some small herds only are ever seen near the settlements;
and there is not inducement enough for the husbandman to leave his
farm, and go far into the interior, to catch the wild horse and kill
the buffalo, among tribes of hostile Indians; as the prospect of gain
would not equal the hardship, risk and expense. The wild horse is an
animal hard to catch; and when caught, it is difficult and troublesome
to tame him, and render him gentle and kind in harness and under
the saddle. It would be as well for the farmer if the fact of their
existence were not known; as it is easier to raise the animal in this
country of evergreen pasture, than to catch and tame the wild one.
There is one point of view, in which a knowledge of the existence of
these animals may be of some importance to the emigrant; it is proof
positive of the natural luxuriance of the soil, and of the mildness of
the climate.
The wild horses are called by the Spaniards, _mustangs_. I saw some
small herds of them prancing at random over the plains. They are
quite wild, you can seldom approach very near them. They are of
various colors and of rather smaller size than the American horse. The
Spaniards are fond of good horses, and are good horsemen. Some of them
make a business of catching and breaking the mustangs. This is done by
building a fence in the shape of a harrow, with a strong pen at the
small end, and driving them into it; or mounting a fleet horse, get
as near as they can unperceived, then start after them at full speed,
throw a rope with a slip-noose at one end, and the other fastened to
the saddle, around the neck, haul out at right angles with their
course, and choke them down. When caught, they put the bridle on, take
them into a large, soft prairie, mount them at once, flog them with
the greenhide, and let them plunge and rear until they become fatigued
and subdued. After undergoing a few more operations of this kind, they
are deemed "fit for use." They are sold at various prices, from six
to twelve dollars; but unless they are caught when young, they never
become gentle as other horses.
Texas appears like the State of Illinois. To the southward and westward
of Trinity river, it is generally an open prairie country. All the
streams have more or less bottom land, covered with a dense forest of
timber; and occasionally, a grove of post oak openings will be found
on the moist high land. The soil in these bottoms is very rich, but
some of them are too wet, or too subject to be overflowed to admit of
cultivation.
A strip of land, bordering on the bays and sea coast, and sixty or
seventy miles in width, is flat, generally approaching to a dead level,
in the spring and fall very wet, and sometimes impassable. Beyond
this, comes the high, dry, rolling country, having no swamps except
immediately on the borders of the rivers. "The Galveston Bay and Texas
Land Company" have a good deal of good land, in pleasant and healthy
situations; and much of it, not yet settled; but they have also a good
deal of poor land. In their grant, are large tracts of pine woods
and post-oak plains; among which, are found some spots of good land,
but generally, it is of a weak and sandy soil. The pine woods are not
without their use. Their resinous qualities give a salubrity to the
air about them, and thereby render a situation in their neighborhood
healthy; and the trees themselves furnish an inexhaustible supply of
the first rate of timber. On the Sabine and Galveston Bays, there
are large prairies of good land, but low and flat; in the region of
Nacogdoches, are small prairies, large tracts of wood, good soil of
red clay, black marle, sandy land, and all the varieties of soil
imaginable. Higher up in the country, there are alternately prairies
and woodland, and an excellent soil. This Company's grant lies
contiguous to the United States, and except on the bay, is as healthy
as any part of the country; but it cannot be called the most pleasant
and beautiful portion of Texas.
The prairies are all burnt over twice a year--in midsummer, and about
the first of winter. Immediately after the burning, the grass springs
up again; so that there is an abundant supply all the year round. No
country in the world can be compared to this, in the ease and facility
of raising stock. All the herdsman has to do, is to look after them,
so they may not stray away, and some portion of the year, yard them to
prevent their growing wild. The prairie grass is of a peculiar species,
unlike any thing we have at the north; but it is of so nutricious a
quality, that it keeps the cattle fat, all the year round. They grow
large and handsome. I never saw better looking herds in my life. The
horse does equally as well on grass, but if worked hard, requires
some grain. Hogs keep in good flesh all the year; and in autumn, when
the nuts fall from the trees, grow fat. Horses, cattle and hogs can,
therefore, be kept in this country without any more trouble than merely
looking after them to prevent their straying away.
And then, there is plenty of game. First in the list, is the deer. I
hardly supposed there were as many deer on the continent, as I saw in
Texas.--They were continually crossing my path, or were seen in flocks
feeding on the prairies. I recollect that from an elevated spot, I
counted five flocks of deer in sight at the same time! In some parts
of the country, a man may about as certainly kill a deer if he choose,
as a northern farmer can kill a sheep from his flock. Their meat is
excellent, and their skins valuable.
Deer-hunting is not very systematically practiced here, as it is in
some parts of the world. Indeed, they are so plenty, that it does not
require much method, or concert of action among a number of individuals
to kill them. The deer is a gregarious animal. You never find one
alone, unless it be accidentally strayed away from the flock. Sometimes
a number of hunters resort to a favorite haunt of the deer, and
while a part arouse them with the dogs in their retreat, and cause
them to flee, others will remain in ambush, near their usual crossing
places at the streams and swamps, and shoot them as they pass. In the
night they are decoyed by fire and killed. A hunter fixes a blazing
torch in his hat, or has another person to carry one just before him;
the deer will stand gazing at the light while he approaches, and by
the brilliancy of their eyes and space between them, calculates his
distance and takes his deadly aim. He must take especial care, however,
that the shadow of a tree or of any thing else does not fall upon the
deer; for in that event, he starts and is off in a moment.
[Illustration]
Then there are the bear, Mexican hog, wild geese, rabbits, and a great
variety of ducks. The prairie hen is not so plenty here as in Illinois.
An emigrant, may, therefore, easily supply himself with meat. All he
has to do is "to kill and eat."
Let us now glance at the soil, and see what that will produce. This
subject I attended to, somewhat critically. It will produce cotton,
sugar cane, Indian corn, rye, barley, oats, rice, buckwheat, peas,
beans, sweet potatoes and all common garden vegetables. The cabbage
does not form a compact head as it does at the north. Wheat will _not_
grow in this country. The stalk will run up rank, but the ear will not
fill with plump kernels. Last December, while I was there, flour sold
on the river Brazos, for ten dollars a barrel; and in the interior,
it sold for fourteen. Corn grows well, and is quite a sure crop when
planted early--about the first of February. I saw a very good crop
which had been planted in June.
I found one man, who, with the aid of a boy ten years old, raised and
gathered fifteen hundred bushels of corn. Perhaps I am severely taxing
the credulity of my readers; but if there be any reliance on human
testimony, the fact is as I have stated. And when it is considered that
the ground is only ploughed, a small portion, if any, hoed at all,
and then it gets ripe early, and he can gather it at his leisure--the
statement may not appear at all incredible. Tobacco will grow, but it
has too thin a leaf to be valuable.
But it is emphatically a cotton country. It produces a larger quantity
to the acre, and of a better quality than any portion of the United
States--not excepting the bottom lands on Red River. This is my belief
from an examination of the growing crop and gathered cotton. And I
found this to be an admitted fact by the most experienced cotton
growers.
The following is as perfect a list of the forest trees, shrubs, vines,
&c., as I can make--to wit:--Red, black, white, willow, post and live
oaks; pine, cedar, cotton-wood, mulberry, hickory, ash, elm, cypress,
box-wood, elder, dog-wood, walnut, pecan, moscheto--a species of
locust, holly, haws, hackberry, magnolia, chincopin, wild peach, suple
jack, cane-brake, palmetto, various kinds of grape vines, creeper,
rushes, Spanish-moss, prairie grass, and a great variety of flowers.
The live oak, magnolia, holly, pine and cedar are evergreens.
The Spanish-moss, so profusely hanging on all the trees near streams
of water, gives them an antique and venerable appearance. It is of a
silver grey color; and, if trees may be compared with men, they appear
like the long grey bearded sages of the antedeluvian world. When the
tree dies, the moss soon withers, and becomes dry. I used to amuse
myself by setting fire to the dry moss in the night. It burnt like
tinder, and would sometimes throw a grand column of flame a hundred and
fifty feet into the air, and brilliantly illuminate the scene, a great
distance around.
Of fruit trees, I saw only the peach, the fig and the orange trees;
excepting one small cluster of apple trees. I think it is too warm
throughout the year for the apple tree to produce much fruit; but the
others will become abundant.
As to the health of the country, the fact seems to be, that in all the
low country, and on the streams of water, the inhabitants are more or
less afflicted with the fever and ague. It much resembles Illinois in
this particular, as well as in many others. In other situations, I
believe it is as healthy as any portion of the United States.
The climate is fine; the air, generally clear and salubrious. It is
neither so hot in the summer, or so cold in the winter, as it is
in New-England. The country lies between the Gulf of Mexico and the
snow-capped Cordillera mountains, so that it is fanned by a refreshing
breeze, which ever way the wind may blow. Sometimes, in winter,
the northwest wind sweeps over the plain, strong and keen; and the
thin-clad southerner sensibly feels its effects upon his system; and
I was informed, instances had been known of their being chilled to
death, when obliged to encamp out in the open air without a fire. It is
sometimes cold enough to make thin ice; but, generally, it is mild and
pleasant all winter. The hottest days of summer, are not as warm and
oppressive, as we find them at the North. Individuals originally from
Maine and New-Hampshire, said they had found no night so warm, that it
was disagreeable to sleep under a woollen blanket.