26 INDIANOLA 
new roofs, and made into very comfortable dwellings— — 
' better, indeed, than modern builders would think of 
erecting. The church seems to have been designed for — 
the double purpose of a church and.a castle. Its mas _ 
sive walls on every side, which measure four feet in 
thickness, are cemented with waterlime ; and to its 
great strength is owing its fine state of preservation. — 
Its extreme length is 90 feet, its breadth 27 feet. 
Its roof isa single stone.arch from wall to wall, sus 
tained by small buildings or cloisters which project 
from the sides, and which are connected with the main — 
edifice; a parapet rises above the roof, behind which — 
cannon were formerly planted. 
In the various domestic wars of Mexico this was an 
important place, and frequently changed hands; nor 
was its importance lost during the struggle for Texan — 
independence, when it was occupied by the Mexican as — 
well as the Texan forces. Its original name was La — 
Bahia del Espiritu Santo, the Bay Town of Espiritu — 
Santo, because it was originally the place for collect — 
ing the revenue of the small ports upon the bay. Hence 
all persons arriving on the bay with merchandise were _ 
obliged to go forty miles into the interior to find the — 
officer of the customs, to whom they had to pay their 
duties. Similar inconveniences exist at the present 
day in Mexico, on the Pacific coast: the collector of the — 
port of Manzanillo, for instance, resides at the city of A 
Colima, ninety miles in the interior. This name of La 
Bahia was changed by the Spaniards about thirty yeatS _ 
since, when it began to — as a religious establish- ; 
ment, to that of Goliad, on account of its great atreng 
_ Around the church are some twenty or more sl 
is Yesteera 
