places, and unclcr whal circumslanccs, Lhc Indians arc alleged lo have cnkrcd Lhc i\'lc!xica11 lcrrilori1:s, he has preferred direcling this cxplanalio11 lo be made withoul delay, in order Lhal Lhcrc 111ay be 110 roo111 for douhl as lo his vi1:ws 011 Lhe subjccl. The u11dcrsig11cd avails himself of Lhc occasion lo offer Mr. Castillo renewed assurances of his dislinguishcd consideratiu11. Senor Oun .f. J\I. Oe Caslillo y Lanzas. Joh11 Forsylh.
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Brazoria, (Texas), Ocl. 22, 1835. Dear Sir: While all eyes were direclcd with inlcnse anxiely towards the mililary operations near Gonzales-supposing that lo be the only point from whence we mighl expect important news-we were aslonished by receiving information of the caplure of Lhe fort and town of Goliad, (La Bahia), by a parly of colonists. These were volunleers from the lranscendently fertile banks of the Caney and from Lhc town of Matagorda, a place destined to become an important city. Before this party entered the field, most of the volunteers were al Gonzales-and fearing that the harvest of honors would be reaped before they could arrive Lhere-thcy struck off from La Baca with the daring determination of taking Goliad by surprise. · Goliad is situated on the south west side of Lhe San Antonio river, thirty leagues below Bexar, and it is fifleen leagues from Copano,.the landing place of Aransas bay, and about the same distance from the La Baca end of Malagorda bay. The fort is built upon the point of a very steep and high hill, formed of rock, with a deep ravine upon one side and a low prairie upon the opposite- while a broad elevated prairie extends towards the south west. The walls of the fort arc of stone and lime, and bear in places the marks of the storms of an hundred winters, but are slill proof against any thing less than the ballcrings of heavy artillery. A long forced march brought Lhc vancguard of the colonists ·lo the San Antonio river, fording l,clow the Lown al l I o'clock on the night of the 9th inst. Here they halted for the main body, ,met to make arrangcmenls for Lhe allack. A very small party were sent into Lown, and Lhcy brought out, with Lhe utmost secrecy, a worthy citizen friendly lo the constitution of 1824. And by his assistance guides were procured, perfectly acquainted with Lhc place.
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