WRITINGS OF SAM HOUSTON, 1824-1857
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the deepest water on the bar to be found on the whole coast, though approachable by ordinary merchant ships, is inaccessible even to frigates of the smaller class, or the ordinary war steam- ers; and, consequently, the defensive works required for its protection will be less expensive than for ports into which ships of the largest class can enter. By the report of the engineers, a copy!! of which is hereto an- nexed, it appears that they consider the harbor of Galveston as "of the first importance in the rank of defensible points on the coast of Texas," and that "it affords facilities for a good de- fence." Though the composition of the soil of the island of Galveston and the shoals contiguous is fine sand, mixed with clay, and consequently subject to some change, yet this change is not considered by the board as very eccentric, "being restrained by the law which first regulated the formation of the shoals, within limits not affecting the general character of the channels in their relation to the shore." In short, in these respects the harbor of Galveston is said to assimilate with those of Mobile and Pensa- eola. A good foundation for the proposed works can be found at the east end of the island, in a position, in reference to the channel, convenient for defence, while all the materials for their construc- tion are abundantly furnished in the vicinity. The works would defend the main channel perfectly; the martello towers· along the shore, and across the island in rear of the town, would pre- vent bomb-vessels from going into the "swash channel," to annoy the town. The works at Galveston would probably be similar to those at Grand Terre, although it is accessible to larger ships; but it possesses advantages over the latter place, on the score of defence, in the large and rapidly increasing population of the town and vicinity. The minimum cost of the principal work for the harbor of Galveston is estimated by the board at $250,000. In connection with the fortification of the coast, the establish- ment of an inland communication between Louisiana and the Rio Grande, through the bays and lagoons that stretch along the whole coast, is supposed by the board of engineers to be feasible at small expense, and is certainly an object of the highest importance, not only in a commercial point of view, but as a part of our system of national defence. An excavation of thirty-three miles in extent will open such a communication it is believed, from the Sabine to the Rio Grande,
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