Not long after our arrival I married Elea-
nor, Monsieur Toumers eldest daughter, whom
I had first known at Baltimore as a girl
of fourteen. This union strengthened the
filial affection with which I had from the
beginning regarded Monsieur and Madame
Toumel. Collin's plantation was next to
ours, and we worked both in common under
the superintendence of my father-in-law and
Collin, and the help of the latter's eldest son,
who, as well as myself, soon learnt all that we
needed to perfect us in our new calling.
Many of our neighbor's plantations suffered
from the inroads of the Indians during the
first years of our colony. Our own always
escaped, thanks to Goumay's inexhaustible
vigilance. We called him our keeper-in-chief,
and his services were really valuable ; he often
protected us from the Comanches' stratagems,
or plainly intimated to them that it was in
their interests to keep the peace with us. As



ADVENTURES OF A FRENCH CAPTAIN. 169

years went on, two of Monsieur Collin's daugh-
ters married Monsieur ToumeFs two youngest
sons, so that our families were, as it were,
merged into one, whose amicable relations
have since contributed powerfully to our con-
tinued prosperity.
We had the misfortune, some time after the
settlement of the colony, to lose our head and
founder, Mr. Moses Austin, but his sons, John
and Stephen, bravely continued his work with
that energy and perseverence which are always
infallibly rewarded with success. We had
hardly settled in Texas before Mexico defini-
tively shook off the Spanish yoke and pro-
claimed their independence. The new gov-
ernment confirmed the grants made by the
Spaniards to Mr. Austin, and new colonists
fi-om the United States soon came to swell our
numbers or to people other parts of Texas.
