OVER THE BORDER. 2$ 



tria, exceeds the German Empire by 63,000 square miles ; while Great Britain and 

 Ireland would form merely an oasis .in one of its deserts. A native-born Texan 

 could (and cheerfully would) add to these figures a mass of statistics showing 

 that his State had the largest school-fund in the world, more miles of wire fence, 

 more millions of acres awaiting a population, more fertile soil, and a finer climate, 

 than any «ther country of the globe. While rather dubious about its soil, taking 

 the territory as a whole, we can conscientiously commend its climate. From 

 Austin its capital, southward, it improves in rarity and diathermancy, until at 

 San Antonio we find a delightful temperature, faulty only from local causes. 



At Austin we enter a rolling region, famous for its woods, vales, and delightful 

 vegetation, on the border of a land where the winter climate is tempered to the 

 requirements of invalids who cannot endure the harsher temperature of the North. 

 As the capital of the State, it is a centre of social refinement ; and its architecture 

 is ambitious. Good hotels here render a stay of any length agreeable. liut at 

 San Antonio, forty-eight hours from St. Louis, the tourist in search of winter 

 sunbeams is likely to linger longest ; for, at the height of six hundred feet above 

 the Gulf of Mexico, the humid coast atmos])here is deprived of its superfluous 

 burden of moisture, and is soft, yet exhilarating. 



Through the quaint old city flows a beautiful river, crossed in many places by 

 bridges, bubbling up here and there in wonderful springs, now laving the banks 

 of a smooth and ever-verdant lawn, then plunging into the sombre depths of a 

 live-oak wood. Aside from the tree-fringed river that pursues its sinuous course 

 through the very heart of the city, there are other streams equally attractive; and 

 springs burst out everywhere through the limestone, especially in its park, San 

 Pedro, where they are most numerous, and create a very paradise of flower and 

 foliage by their tepid waters. Overlooking the city, on a hill, are the fine buildings 

 of the United States military department ; this place having long been occupied 

 as headquarters, owing to its salubrity, and central and commanding location. 

 Many of the most attractive resorts of San Antonio can be reached by horse-cars 

 from the central plaza, about which are the best hotels. Here, likewise, is that build- 

 ing so famous in the sanguinary struggle for Texan independence, — the Alamo. 

 This old structure, whose walls were baptized in the blood of heroes, has been 

 purchased by the State, and can be freely examined by all visitors. Nearly oppo- 

 site is the Mexican Cathedral, worth a visit. But by far the most interesting 

 relics of Mexican architecture are the celebrated mission-buildings, scattered along 

 the river-bank, from a mile to several miles distant. San Jose and San Juan are 

 most famous structures, not alone being ancient, but possessing architectural 

 beauties in carven pillars, w-indows, and cornices that no modern buildings can 

 rival. The halo of antiquity and of a most fascinating history lingers about them, 

 and by no means should one of them be omitted from the tourist's itinerary. 



So it is that San Antonio gives us a hint of Mexico, in its bland climate, in the 

 costumes of its Mexican population, in the architecture of its ancient buildings. 



Connection is made here, as well as at Austin, with New Orleans and Houston, 

 and with Galveston, — that thriving city on the sands, with its grand hotel, fine 

 drives, and delightful sea-bathing. 



Nine hours south of San Antonio, after a good night's rest in a luxurious 

 "sleeper," we reach Laredo, and make change for cars of the Mexican National, 

 a narrow-gauge road which runs as far (1SS4) as Saltillo, — 234 miles. A day could 



