817 



TEXAS. 



THAMES. 



813 



All kinds of fruit ripen well. The vine grows luxuriantly, and it 

 appears probable that Texas will become a wine-growing country. 

 The orange, lemon, fig, peacli, nectarine, pine-apple, olive, paw-paw, 

 plum, apple, gooseberry, and many other fruits of both southern and 

 northern climes ripen here side by side; while indigenous fruits are 

 very numerous. Garden vegetables of almost every kind thrive 

 remarkably here. Among the indigenous plants are the yaupan, or 

 Texan tea-tree, the leaves of which yield an infusion which serves as 

 un agreeable and cheap substitute for the tea of China ; and the 

 nopal, which is a favourite food of the cochineal insect, while cattle 

 and horses feed on its fruit and leaves, and its wood is used for 

 making fences, and for fuel. The native wild flowers include many 

 of the choicest favourites of the European garden and conservatory ; 

 among others are the dahlia, stellaria of every variety, geraniums, 

 passion-flowers, trumpet-flowers, perpetual roses, mimosas, and an 

 endless variety more of the most brilliant hues. 



The forests of live oak and cedar surpass those of any other state 

 in the Union. The entire coast, the river bottoms, and the chief part 

 of the eastern section of the state, are heavily timbered with pine, 

 oak, ash, hickory, walnut, cedar, cypress, and other forest trees, often 

 of noble dimensions; and forest islands occur all over the prairie 

 country. 



Horses and cattle form an important portion of the wealth of 

 Texas, the rich prairies affording unlimited pasture-grounds. Swine 

 arc also raised in vast numbers'. The wild animals, once so numerous, 

 arc rapidly diminishing in numbers. Buffaloes however yet roam the 

 wilds in herds of many thousands ; ta do also deer. Wolves and foxes 

 are still numerous, and the black bear abounds among the caue- 

 brakes of the coast The peccari and the wild-hog are numerous 

 in the wood.*. Mustangs are found in droves in the west and 

 north ; when domesticated, they are much prized for their fleet- 

 ness. Moose-deer, antelopes, mountain-goats, racoons, opossum*, 

 rabUts, squirrel*, and numerous smaller animals abound in the forests 

 and about the hills. Wild-fowl, in almost interminable numbers and 

 of the most various kind*, afford ample supplies of came to the sports- 

 man ; and there are numerous singing-birds, paroquets, mocking-bird", 

 ic. All the rivers abound in fish, both of the ordinary kinds, as 

 cod, mullet, pike, &c., and of species not usually met with, a* the red- 

 fish (which gives its name to Red-Fish River, where it abounds), a 

 fish of delicious flavour and large size, sometimes weighing 501bs. ; 

 the gar-Gull, remarkable for the length of its snout ; the alligator-gar, 

 which is snid to measure several yards in length, and to resemble the 

 alligator in shape, &c. The common alligator is met with of very 

 large dimensions, in the laguncs and the lower course of several rivers. 

 Oysters, lobsters, crabs, and other shell-fish are taken all along the 

 coast. Turtles abound in the bays and harbours. 



Manufacture*, Commerce, Ac. The manufacturing industry is chiefly 

 that incidental to an agricultural state, the bulk of the capital being 

 invested in grist- and saw-mills, tanneries, implement-manufactories, 

 ic. There are somewhat considerable iron-works, machine-shops, and 

 carriage and harness factories. 



The direct foreign commerce, though steadily increasing, is not 



very preat, most of the exports being made coastwise to New York, 



New Orleans, ic. The exports during the year ending June 30, 



Amounted to 1,029,681 dollars, of which 69,918 dollars were 



nestic produce. The imports during the same period amounted 



to 281,459 dollars, of which 156,144 dollars were carried in American, 



:<i, I 125,315 dollars in foreign vessels. The total shipping owned in 



the state in 1850 was 3897 tons, of which 3309 tons belonged to the 



district of Galvetton. . 



i<ini. Towns, <tc. Texas is divided into 77 counties. Austin 

 City U the political capital, but Oalveston is the chief commercial 

 riitm, and the moat populous town in tbo state. The following 

 are the more important towns: the population is that of 1850 : 



.\\ulin City, the capital, is situated on the left bank of the Rio 

 Colorado, in 30 28' N. lat, 97 45' W. long. : population 629. It is 

 merely a village, but it contains the state buildings, and supports two 

 weekly newspapers. 



fialtuton, a city and port of entry, and the capital of Oalveston 



, is situated near the cut end of Oalveston, about 200 miles 



S.K. from Autiu : population, 4177. The harbour of Galveston is 



the beet in Texas, and six-sevenths of the shipping of the state 



belong to this port. The trade of Galveston is very considerable, 



and steadily increasing. A regular line of communication by steam- 



iliip.) ia maintained with New Orleans. There are a few good public 



buildings in the city, and numerous warehouses, hotels, 4c. Galveston 



'. on which the city stands, it 32 miles long and about 2 miles 



wide. It was once a favourite lurking-place for pirates, but is now 



L-hly cultivated, and tlie residence of several wealthy farmers. 



During summer it is much resorted to by invalids 



Jfouitoii stands at the head of steam-navigation on Buffalo bayou, 



160 miles E.S.E. from Austin City : population, 2396. Next to 



Galreston. Houston ia the chief business town in the state, being the 



of a rich cotton district. There are several public buildings, 



churches, and schools. A wharf 500 feet long, with a cotton press at 



ml, extends along the front of the city. 



v <zn Antonio, near the iiource of the river of the same name, 75 miles 

 SI', hy S. from Austin City, population 3488, U the oldest town in 

 "!. DIV. vor. iy. 



Texas, and one of the oldest in North America. It contains several 

 ecclesiastical edifices erected during the Spanish occupation, a large 

 ruinous fortress, and other vestiges of its former possessors ; also a 

 United States arsenal and some modern structures. 



Hiitory, Gm-wnment, Ac. Until 1836 Texas formed a part of 

 Mexico. For some years prior to that date the American colonists, 

 an active, numerous, aiid united body, had been making every possible 

 effort to prepare the way for a revolt against the Mexican authority. 

 In 1835 hostilities commenced in earnest. The Mexican government 

 was unable to suppress the rising; and eventually the Mexican army, 

 under General Santa Anna, the president of Mexico, was defeated tt 

 Jacinto by the Texans, under the American general Houston. Santa 

 Anna was made prisoner, and, as a condition of his release, agreed to 

 sign a treaty acknowledging the independence of Texas. The Mexican 

 senate disavowed the authority of Santa Anna to make such a treaty, 

 but no steps were taken towards effecting a re-conquest of Texas ; 

 and in 1845 the United States of North America formally admitted 

 Texas into the Union as a sovereign state. This led at once to war 

 between Mexico and the United States ; but the former country was 

 in too disorganised a condition to hope for success in such a contest, 

 and, after suffering a series of humiliating defeats, was constraiued to 

 accept peace on terms of acknowledging the independence of Texas, 

 and ceding to the United States a large portion of territory, including 

 the whole of the northern provinces. [MEXICO.] 



The constitution was adopted in August, and ratified in October, 

 1845. By it the right of voting is vested in every free white male 

 citizen who shall have resided in the state for one year. The legis- 

 lature consists of a Senate of not less than 19 nor more than 33 (at 

 present 21) members, who are elected for four years ; and a House of 

 Representatives, of not less than 45 nor more than 90 (at present 66) 

 members, who are elected for two years. The governor is elected for 

 two years. The admitted public debt was returned by tho state 

 auditor in November 1851 as Ostensible debt, 9,647,253 dollars ; par 

 value, 4,807,764 dollars. But the real condition of the state finances 

 is difficult to understand from the involved and incomplete accounts 

 published. The state militia is composed of about 18, 500 men and 

 1248 commissioned officers. In 1850 there were in the state two 

 colleges, having 7 teachers and 165 students; and 349 public schools, 

 having 360 teachers and 7946 scholars. 



(Gazetteer* of the United Statet ; Official Reports relating to Texas, 

 Ac.; Seventh Cenna of tlte. United Statet; American Almanac, 1855; 

 Marcou, Humboldt, ic.) 



TEXEL. [HoLt^ND.] 



TEYNHAM. [I 



TEYS, THE. [EssKX.] 



TEZA, or TAZA. [MABOCCO.] 



TEZUCCO, LAKE. [MEXICO, City of.] 



THAKEHAM, Sussex, a retired rural village, and the seat of a 

 Poor-Law Union, in the parish of Thakehnm, is pleasantly situated in 

 50 57' N. lat, 24' W. long., distant 10 miles E. by S. from Pet- 

 worth, and 48 miles S.S.W. from London. The population of the 

 parish of Thakeham in 1851 was 631. The living is a rectory in the 

 archdeaconry and diocesu of Chichester. Thakeham Poor-Law Union 

 contains 15 parishes and townships, with an area of 35,599 acres, and 

 a population in 1851 of 7434. 



THAME, Oxfordshire, a market-town, and the seat of a Poor-Law 

 Union, in the parish of Thanie, is situated on the left bank of the 

 river Thame, a feeder of the Thames, in 51 45' N. lat., 59' W. 

 long., distant 14 miles E. from Oxford, and 44 miles W.N.W. from 

 London. The population of the town iu 1851 was 2869. The living 

 ia a vicarage in the archdeaconry and diocese of Oxford. Thame 

 Poor-Law Union comprises 35 parishes and townships, with an area 

 of 54,562 acres, and a population in 1851 of 15,624. 



The town consists chiefly of one long and spacious street, with a 

 commodious market-place. The church is a large and handsome 

 structure, of early English architecture ; it consists of a nave, with 

 side aisles, transepts, and chancel, with an embattled tower rising 

 from the intersection. There are chapels for Wesleyan Methodists, 

 Independents, and Baptists ; National, British, aud Infant schools; a 

 Free Grammar school, a mutual improvement society, olmshouses, 

 and a savings bank. The market is on Tuesday, for corn aud cattle. 

 There are four annual fairs. A county court is held in the town. 



THAMES, the most important river in Great Britain, rises in the 

 central part of England, aud flows eastward into the German Ocean. 

 Our description will comprehend a notice of its basin, course, and 

 affluents, and its commcrci.il importance. 



Ilatin. The limits assignable to the basin of the Thames will 

 depend on the place at which the mouth is fixed. We may consider 

 as such the opening between Whitstable in Kent and the east extremity 

 of Foulness Island in Essex, where the tideway has a breadth of 

 18 miles. Here the Thames opens into a large bay, separating Kent 

 on the south from Essex and Suffolk on tho north, and having for 

 its extreme points the North Foreland in Kent and Orford Ness in 

 Suffolk, 50 miles distant from each other. The basin of the Thames, 

 commencing at Whitstable, is bounded by the high grounds which 

 there run down to the coast, and form the cliffs cast of that town. 

 The boundary runs in a very irregular line across the county of Kent 

 and the Weald district of Kent and Sussex to tho high ground on the 



3 a 



