The ,vid:th of the bottom-timbered lands is, on all the rivers, proportioned to the largeness of the stream. That portion of the country of which I make a third division, viz: between the Guadaloupe and Neuaces rivers, the latter of which bas heretofore been consid- ered the boundary between Texas and Tamaulipas, is very different, in the general, from what I have already described, as to its appearance and natural productions, but is scarcely inferior, for purposes of culture, to any in whatever quarter. \Vithin thirty miles of the bay of .Aransas, which forms the southern coast of this section of country, the prairies are, in all respects, like those of the east. But afterward, in going north, the land is found covered with open post- oak, in the midst of which grass grows thick and luxuriant. The soil is black sand, and so loose and spongy, as to make it impossible, in a wet time, for a horse to travel, except on a beaten path. The river bottoms contain a good deal of clay, but yield, never- theless, a copious harvest to the cultivator. The tim- ber with few exceptions in perc(nt, which bears a fruit not unlike the shagbark walnut, the difference being only in a thinner shell, and more of the eatable substance. There is, in this pal't of Texas, a peculiar kind of grass and of small timber, called m11-skut, always found growing together. The grain of this wood is ve1·y fine and compact, so that, like live oak, it is specifically
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