colonies or grants have been erased from the map, and therefore no longer belong to this portion of my work. Texas can be said to have no natural boundary-unless we deny to Mexico the right of sovereignty over the soil of that portion of her territory -except the Nueces river, and the Guadaloupe mountains, which might reasonably be laid down as her natural boundary, both on the west and south. But by an act of the Texan congress, dated December 19th, 1836, we find the Rio Grande politically defined as the natural boundary on the south and west of the republic of Texas, at the same time that the conventional boundary between Mexico and the United States is duly recognized, and claimed as the boundary of the republic of Texas on the east and north, as follows: "Be it enacted by the senate and house of representatives of the republic of Texas in congress assembled, That from and after the passing of this act, the civil and political jurisdiction of this republic be, and is hereby declared to extend to the following boundaries; to wit: Beginning at the mouth of the Sabine river, and running west along the Gulf of Mexico, three leagues from land, to the mouth of the Rio Grande, thence up the principal stream of said river to its source, thence due north to the forty-second degree of north latitude, thence along the boundary line, as defined in the treaty between the United States and Spain, to the begin

ning; and that the president be, and is hereby authorized and required to open a negotiation with the government of the United States of America, so soon as in his opinion the public interest requires it, to ascertain and define the boundary line as agreed upon in the said treaty."

By thus extending the western boundary of Texas to the Rio Grande, the Texans claim those parts of the Mexican states of Tamaulepas, Coahuila, Chihuahua, and New Mexico, that lie to the east of the Rio Grande, in addition to Texas Proper under the Mexican republican regime, making in all a territorial domain of about 300,000 square miles. The northern and eastern boundary of Texas is laid down in the same act, in accordance with Onis's treaty of 1819, which was confirmed by a treaty of limits between the republic of Mexico and the United States in 1828; but subsequent to this date a convention was agreed upon for the purpose of surveying and settling the boundary line, but as the survey had not been made previous to the declaration of the independence of Texas, the United States refused to recognize the boundary of Texas, according to the treaty of 1819, until the stipulation of her convention with Mexico should be completed; therefore the Texan congress finally passed an act in 1839, to provide funds to carry the object of the original convention into execution, and in April, 1840, the commissioners appointed by Texas and the United States, commenced their arduous duties.

The conventional boundary between Mexico and

the United States, as defined in Onis's treaty, is as follows:

"The boundary line between the two countries west of the Mississippi, shall commence from the Gulf of Mexico, at the place where the river Sabine empties itself into the sea; and it shall continue northward by the west bank of this river, until it reaches the thirty-second degree of latitude, from which point it shall continue in a straight line due north, until it strikes the red river of Natchitoches, and then it shall proceed eastward up the course of that river as far as the 100th degree of longitude west from London, and twenty-three degrees from Washington, at which point it shall cross that river, and continue by a straight line due north on the same degree of longitude to the river Arkansas, the south bank of which it shall follow up to its source in the forty-second degree of north latitude, and from this point a straight line shall be drawn following the same parallel of latitude to the Pacific Ocean. All according to the map of the United States, published in Philadelphia, by Mellish, and perfected in 1818. But should it be found that the source of the Arkansas river is either to the north or the south of the said forty-two degrees of latitude, the line shall continue from the source of that river due north or due south, as the case may be, until it reaches the said forty-two degrees of latitude, and then shall follow that parallel to the Pacific Ocean."

It is difficult to say whether this will continue to be the boundary between Texas and the United States when the present commission shall have finished its labours.

The exact extent of territory now in the absolute possession of the Texans is distinctly defined on the map, and has been divided into judicial districts,* and subdivided into the following

I now arrive at a subject, namely, the climate of Texas, which I approach fearlessly, having given it my most constant attention from the earliest period of my arrival in the country up to the moment I left it; and I would earnestly entreat of every class of my readers to reflect seriously upon the facts, more particularly such of my countrymen who are about to emigrate from this country in hopes of finding a more hospitable asylum than their native and favoured, but over-crowded island at present * See page 362.

X

offers. For what would be the real worth of the richest soil in the world, where, if the agriculturist did not absolutely lose his health, his energy would become so completely paralyzed that he could not cultivate it? Or what is to compensate a mechanic for the loss of his health, and therein of his labour? Is it the prospect of his being able to earn as much in one hour in an unhealthy country as he would in a whole day in his own? Certainly not. The climate which checks the legitimate use of corporeal labour, be it sickly or not, is the constant and unconquerable opponent of human prosperity, and is, therefore, only to be avoided by inquiring into its physical construction. This hint, it is to be hoped, will not be overlooked by emigrants, be their destination where it may.

The territory of Texas, extending from 27° 30' to the 42nd parallel of north lat. on the west, and from about the 29th to the 34th of north lat. on the east; and from about 94° to 94° 30' of west longitude, is exposed on the southern and eastern extremities, and for two or three degrees from the coast towards the interior, to all the varieties and inconveniences of a tropical climate; and on the northern and western, from about the 35th of north lat., to the perpetual snow and frost of the frigid zone. This region, however, is visited during the summer months by an ardent sun, while the atmosphere throughout the former of the lastnamed limits, is either very wet, cold, or sultry. At the beginning of spring (March) it is generally