BROOKS FAMILY HISTORY - Interactive Family Histories

7-416 INTERACTIVE FAMILY HISTORIESMy Dear Father,January 18th, 1836Texas, VelascoMouth of Brazos RiverHaving written my feelings in the other sheet I will now proceed to give a moreexplicit explanation of this country so far as my knowledge and information extends.I landed at this place and have seen the country for four or five milesround. The whole that I have seen is low marchy passage five and 10 milesacross. The water courses are lined with trees and undergrowth. Live Oak is theprinciple timber. The skirts of timbered land are from 100 yards to a mile wideand as rich as lands can possibly be. These are lands that produce 2000 poundsof cotton per acre. The parrary lands are not quite as rich and down here theyare only suitable for rice plantations owing to there lying so low on the coast. Iwent up the river to Collumbia 30 miles. There I saw some of the richest andthe prettiest land in the world. It was much higher and the woodland skirtsmuch broader. This is as far as I have seen. I have been informed that the interioror up countrie is a rich high elevated healthy country affording good waterand intersperced with parrary and woodland land say one third or fourth of theformer. As to game there is no end to it, of every kind. There is 2 deer in thiscountry for every hog in Georgia, plenty of large fat wild hogs and cows plentyof wolves panthers and bears. In the interior Millions of buffalo and wild horsesand as to fowls I sit at camp and see gangs of Brants yet 10 miles long. Brantsare a species of the goose and a person not acquainted with them would takethem to be geese. There is also plenty of geese ducks Sandhill cranes and allother kind of cranes and the Pilikin with a bill nearly as long as your arm. Infact, this is the greatest place of fowls & Birds of all kinds that I have ever seen- the Rivers and Creeks are full of almost all kinds of fish viz Mullet Troutpearch flounder Red fish Cat fish Sheeps Head with thousands of others that Iknow no name for. The Coast also abounds with all kinds of Shell fish in thegreatest profussion. Give me bread in this country and I can live hunting onlywith my gun & fish Hook. Cows and Hogs grow to an enormous size here. Themilk cows are as large as the largest oxen that I ever saw in Georgia - I took afile of men and went after meat a few days past. We killed four wild hogs about2 years old that averaged 250 pounds net - The range for cows and hogs must begood for fifty years hence they require no more feeding than will keep themfrom going wild. Northern Horses will not do as well here except (if) great careis taken of them the first year but mules do extremely well.