92                                TEXAS  AND  MEXICO.
Texas. Its prosperity increases every day, and its
population is above six hundred. A great portion of
the community is Catholic. At some distance from the
town there are other German settlements, but of very
minor importance. Although Braunfels is beautifully
situated for a colony, still the surrounding country is
chiefly remarkable for its agricultural advantages.
Natural curiosities abound in this part of Texas. A
rich German, Herr Claupenbach, possesses magnificent
collections. Although a Protestant, he received me with
great affability; and after showing me his museum, he
conducted me to the source of the Comal, a small river
which runs through the town, and sets in motion the
machinery of its grinding and sawing mills. These
springs are well worth a visit. They burst from the
hill, then dash among rocks into a wood, and furnish a
volume of water not less than four feet in depth and
twenty-five in breadth, very limpid, and of a most
delicious flavour. In the dry bed of a torrent, at the
bottom of a deep gorge formed of limestone rocks,
which afford shelter to wild beasts, I saw very curious
crystallisations, and found a large white flint of such
purity and brilliance, that I mistook it for rock-
crystal. I also found a portion of loadstone as large
as a hen's egg. Violet crystallisations which resemble
amethysts, are found on the elevated plateau which
protects Braunfels from the north winds; also beau-
tiful and rare flowers, which brave the most intense
heat. Here, too, is seen a small conical hill, which has
all the characters of a volcanic eruption, and which
bears a very close resemblance to the hill near the camp
of the Leona.
Despite all misadventures these excursions have their