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advanced, connecting Bayou La Fourche, Terrebonne, and Atchafalaya. Old work; Appendix No. 9. no recent modifications.
UNITED STATES.
It must be confessed that, in the absence of powerful floating batteries, the works above detailed, in their present obsolete or incomplete state, are quite insufficient for the defence of the important system of New Orleans.
State of Texas.
The coast from the Sabine to the Rio Grande is composed, for nearly the whole distance, of long narrow islands and peninsulas, which lie parallel to the mainland, forming several bays and lagoons, the inlets of which exhibit channels only suitable to the smaller classes of vessels.
The old Engineer proposals required three fortified positions on this coast, but at the present date, on the same scale, far more would probably be asked for.
The harbour improvements for Texas, up to 1879, have amounted to 1,269,000 dollars, the bulk of which on Sabine Pass and Galveston Harbour and Bay. A canal has been surveyed between these two, part of the great system spoken of generally under « Communications," and again under
Pensacola.
Very large expenditures are also projected for Brazos River, Matagorda Bay, and Brazos Santiago. At Brazos River, a little to the west of Galveston, it has been proposed to create a new naval
station.
All this must be taken in connection with the great recent development of United States' Mexican railways, and the doubling of the Texan population in the last decade.
The 1870 census, in this case very inaccurate, classed Texas as thinly populated and poor. Sailors, 645; fishermen, 57; raftsmen, 338; shipwrights, 69.
Old census, 818,579; new, 1,597,000.
Organized militia, 1,826; unorganized, 150,000.
Actual forts, nil.
Batteries proposed at the entrance of Galveston Harbour. Earthen batteries recently designed, to be placed on Pelican Spit, Galveston Island, and on Bolivar Point, for defence of this rapidly rising port, but no funds yet allowed.
There are, in fact, no defences throughout the whole Texan coast.
The Pacific Coast.
There are many interesting general considerations in the State Papers on the subject of this coast, but owing to rapid changes in the position of affairs they are not so well worthy of quotation, even briefly, as in other cases has been thought desirable; the isolation of this coast from the rest is passing away, as well as its weakness owing to sparseness of population.
With respect to this section the same battle has raged between the advocates of fortifications, who have recommended twenty-six fortified positions, and at the present date would probably demand many more, and the naval experts, who require a strong fleet; the Federal officials, have, as usual, satisfied neither.
The west section resembles no other of those already described; except in the southern portion it has no outlying islands, as the north-east section; no deeply indented inlets, and peninsulas capable of being pierced by canals, like the middle section; and no interior line of channels and bayous, or great rivers, except the Columbia, to complicate the strategy. The harbours are few and exposed; and the result is that San Francisco dominates the situation, and on this coast assumes an importance relatively greater than any city, even New York, on the east.
The Americans show a certain appreciation of this by having a, for them, considerable force of artillery stationed there.
State of California.
The expenditure on harbours, up to 1879, has been considerable; as has been already said, the States are not niggardly in their endeavours to remove the defects or improve the natural capabilities of their coasts and rivers; 1,237,000 dollars have been expended on this section, chiefly on the following places:-San Diego, Wilmington, and San Francisco, and Oakland inside that bay.
There is also a project to establish a harbour of refuge between San Francisco and the Straits of Fuca. The reports on this subject are not yet completed; one proposal would expend 5,000,000 dollars on Trinidad, half way between San Francisco and San Juan.
In the 1870 Census, the coast of California varies between very thin and thin population; but owing to the precious metals found there, the classification of wealth ranges from well off to very rich
-San Francisco and Santa Barbara being the richest points.
Sailors, 3,485; fishermen, 51; raftsmen, 2,517; shipwrights, 693.
Old census, 560,000; new, 864,000.
Organized militia, 3,662; unorganized, 120,000.
Actual forts •
Fort at San Diego; earthwork in rear of Ballast Point, commands the channel at the entrance
to the bay and harbour. In its present state, worthless for defensive purposes. Funds required.
Defences of San Francisco :-
Value of stores here, 7,000,000 dollars.
Fort at Fort Point, entrance to harbour; casemated work, with more recent earthen barbette batteries, form defences of south side of Golden Gate. Plans for heaviest modern guns and mortars, thirty platforms, &c.; awaiting funds. No work has
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