The Southwestern Historical Quarterly, Volume 31, July 1927 - April, 1928 Page: 153
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Descriptions of Tejas or Asinai Indians, 1691-172 153
food. In addition to the nut bearing trees, there other fruit
trees, like the medlar, the plum, and the large wild cherry. Among
them there is found a white grape that looks like a muscatel. It
only needs cultivation to make it as good as the domestic variety.
There are great quantities of red and white mulberries and large
blackberries which are very sweet, a great abundance of pome-
granates like those in China, and a quantity of chestnuts, although
the fruit they yield is small, about like the white-oak acorns. The
pastures and other portions of the land are very much like those in
Florida-a country contiguous to Texas. Everything that is read
about the beauty and fertility of the first named province can be
applied to the latter with but little modification. In general the
country is level though in some portions it is rough. No mountain
ranges are found in the whole extent of the Texas country, although
there are some foothills to the northward. Rock is everywhere
exceedingly scarce and is found only in the beds of certain dry
arroyos. So it is not easy to build of stone though one might
wish to do so. The climate is very much like that of Spain since
it begins to rain in September and the water continues to fall up
to April. During the four remaining months the weather is very
hot and showers are very scarce during this time. So, in order
to succeed in raising a crop, one must have added rains from
Heaven. If this is scarce, the crops are short. Throughout the
whole country there are rivers and, large perennial arroyos, and
many springs which are so low during the summer season that
their waters can not be drawn off for irrigation. Besides, since
the country is so thickly wooded, there are no places suitable for
irrigation even with a great deal of work. This been the great-
est difficulty at all times in gathering the Indians into compact
settlements. There are many lagoons in which an abundance of
fish are found. These fish are not always found in the same spots,
but the locations vary according to the rises in the rivers and
arroyos during the winter. When warm weather comes the Indians
go with their families to certain spots and stay for some days, living
on fish. They carry home quantities of cooked fish, I ate some of
these, among them the fish called dorado. The animals that are
most abundant in these woods are deer and venison from which
the Indians secure their staple food, together with wild ducks. To
these are added during the winter months many bustards and
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Texas State Historical Association. The Southwestern Historical Quarterly, Volume 31, July 1927 - April, 1928, periodical, 1928; Austin, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth101088/m1/165/: accessed March 19, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting Texas State Historical Association.