011, Catl,olic Heritage in Texas
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Mobile by the governor, he had been given the commission or patent now in possession of the viceroy; that he left Mobile with twenty-four French Canadians; that twenty-one of these had returned to Mobile from the Asinai; and that he had finally reached the Presidio of Diego Ramon on the Rio Grande, a year and nine months, more or less, after his departure. In the course of the declaration he related such events as would not prejudice his cause, describing in detail the different stages of the journey and the physical characteristics of the country visited. He took special care to emphasize the "natural affection" which the Indians had for the Spaniards and their great desire to have the Padres return and establish missions among them. He painted in glowing colors the fertility of the country, the richness of its fruit, the abundance of flax, and the admirable qualities of the Tejas Indians. But he failed to account for the year and nine months that it took him to make the trip, or to tell anything of the two storehouses built at the village of the Natchitoches, or the lively trade carried on with the Asinai during the long stop there, or his hurried visit to the Mississippi before continuing the march. He tried, however, to make it appear that the journey had been continuous, and that nothing took place during the entire trip prejudicial in any manner to the interests of the Spaniards.: In transmitting the declaration and accompanying documents to the Fiscal, the viceroy said: "In view of all [the facts] presented, you will recommend what you may deem best, keeping ever present the gravity of the matter and the consequences that may follow such entradas." 3 To this the Fiscal made a preliminary reply on August 15, in which he declared he had already expressed himself fully concerning the serious conse- quences of such expeditions, in his opinion given at the consultation held as a result of the letter sent by Governor Salinas Varona a little less than two years before, at which time he had pointed out how the intro- duction of merchandise into the provinces of Nueva Vizcaya, Nueva Estremadura, and Parral caused a great part of the silver from the rich mines of that region to be diverted with grave detriment to the already diminished trade of those provinces with Spain; that the French, having learned the route to the Rio Grande, as shown by their appearance at ioeclaracion de St. Denis y Medar Jalot. San Francisco el Grande Archive, VIII, 27-32. Copy also in Provincias Jnternas, Vol. 181, pp. 3-9. Mexico, Archivu General de la Nacion. lProvincias /nternas, Vol. 181, p. 10. Mexico, Arckivo General de la Nacion. Copy also in San Francisco el Grande Arckive, VIII, 32.
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