Texas in 1850. By Melinda Rankin. Page: 84 of 196

TEXAS IN 1850.

87

Flowers bloom and vegetation grows during most of
the winter. To a person reared amid the snowy regions
of the North a Texian winter would appear a novelty
which could scarcely be realized. Rarely can
there be found an individual from the North, who, after
residing any length of time beneath the beams of a
Southern sun, desires to return to the uncongenial
rigors of a Northern climate. The South was formerly
considered for Northern people, what India has been
for Europeans,--"a vast grave-yard." Experiment
has fully proven, however, that Northern constitutions
are susceptible of becoming acclimated, by using proper
precautions. It is not unfrequently the case, that
individuals born and reared in view of the snowy summits
of the White Mountains of New Hampshire, are
found in the extreme South, and as exempt from disease
and sickness, as those who have never known any other
clime, except that of the " Sunny South."
The temperature of the Summers does not present a
higher degree of heat than is experienced at the North,
but their protracted length has the tendency, somewhat,
to relax the constitution. The coolness of the nights,
however, and the refreshing breezes from the gulf,
serve very essentially to mitigate the inconveniences
arising from the long warm summers.
Epidemics are not common
the diseases which are
generally prevalent, are of a mild character, and yield
readily to medicine under early and judicious treatment.
The water of some parts of Texas is injurious to health,
which renders such locations objectionable. This diffi