06.02.2013 Views

EARLY BELGIAN COLONIAL EFFORTS - The University of Texas at ...

EARLY BELGIAN COLONIAL EFFORTS - The University of Texas at ...

EARLY BELGIAN COLONIAL EFFORTS - The University of Texas at ...

SHOW MORE
SHOW LESS

Create successful ePaper yourself

Turn your PDF publications into a flip-book with our unique Google optimized e-Paper software.

from Belgium became apparent, it swiftly relayed its change <strong>of</strong> heart to the Belgian<br />

sovereign. Leopold, <strong>at</strong> least in the area <strong>of</strong> colonial efforts, always heeded the thre<strong>at</strong>s,<br />

st<strong>at</strong>ed or implied, <strong>of</strong> the British foreign <strong>of</strong>fice, and especially Palmerston.<br />

Lastly, unlike the Santo Tomas affair, Belgium apparently had no maps <strong>of</strong><br />

<strong>Texas</strong>. It was necessary, however, th<strong>at</strong> Pirson had some cartographic inform<strong>at</strong>ion from<br />

which to identify the Republic and to scout out the potential colony. This seems to have<br />

been the background <strong>of</strong> his hand-traced copy <strong>of</strong> a major British map <strong>of</strong> <strong>Texas</strong> (Map 1),<br />

showing the borders and several interior fe<strong>at</strong>ures <strong>of</strong> the Republic. Pirson was fortun<strong>at</strong>e<br />

in th<strong>at</strong> he did not need to rely on maps during his investig<strong>at</strong>ion because there were<br />

simply were no others in his possession. 213 This shortfall did not affect the outcome in<br />

view <strong>of</strong> the fact th<strong>at</strong> the Belgian colony in <strong>Texas</strong> was simply not to be.<br />

212 Pirson’s overall tone in the several letters he wrote after the trip to <strong>Texas</strong> indic<strong>at</strong>ed a general<br />

willingness to return if the government was interested in further contact with the Republic.<br />

213 <strong>The</strong>re was a strong cartographic history in Belgium in the nineteenth century but it did not<br />

extend to oceanographic maps before 1830. Marcel W<strong>at</strong>elet. Cartographie et politique dans la Belgique<br />

du XIXe siècle (Bruxelles: Crédit communal, 1987). <strong>The</strong> monopoly <strong>of</strong> the Dutch on shipping from<br />

Belgium rendered any maps <strong>of</strong> the seas unnecessary.<br />

107

Hooray! Your file is uploaded and ready to be published.

Saved successfully!

Ooh no, something went wrong!