PREFACE Vll 



moralist admires in it the display of gentleness, 

 patience and j)erseverance ; and every man "who 

 rides a horse may some day or other find some 

 advantage in consulting it. 



I have endeavored to render this little work as 

 useful as possible, on three accounts. Firstly, on 

 account of the profits arising from the sale of a 

 useful work ; secondly, for the credit one gets as 

 the author of something good ; and lastly, on ac- 

 count of the satisfaction every generous mind must 

 feel in becoming useful to his fellow creatures. I 

 have been most generously encouraged by the in- 

 habitants of Attakapas, where I had resided so 

 many years. As soon as I began my subscription 

 they almost universally became subscribers. In 

 the town of St Martinsville, only three or four in- 

 dividuals refused to subscribe. In Opelousas I 

 met with a kind reception from most of the people 

 to whom I presented the list for subscription. At 

 Fausse River, Pointe Coupe, Plaquemine, and 

 down to New Orleans, they almost universally sub- 

 scribed. I shall always feel grateful for their 

 kind reception. Encouragement is the deepest 

 and dearest debt that a writer can incur. 



I never declared myself to be the discoverer of 

 this secret till the year 1824, when I arrived in 

 the Mexican states. I had my reasons for so do- 



