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101 court house". The Country about here thickly situated & moreover emigrants coming in. Passing Col Shannons' fine plantation & that of Mr Devereux the "Scotch Hermitage" arrived at the residence of my excellent friend & companion Robert Robson Esqr about two miles from Montgomery /situated on one of the numberless "pine barrens" X that are in this country
14th. There is daily hunting for fox, deer, opposums, &c in these pine woods. Some of the planters have a few good dogs. The late rains have rendered the roads impassable, thus the planters cannot haul their cotton to Houston. There are some flat-boats building on the San Jacinto river to convey cotton & other produce to Lynchburg, & from thence the Steamers can take it to Galveston. It would appear that more rain falls in Eastern than in Western Texas, & the reason given is that the formers section being more timbered is less exposed to those winds that carry off the rains towards the gulf. Up to the end of this month, but very different weather, but at times good enough for hunting.
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X pine barrens or oak openings are ' lands partaking of the forest and prairie.