"Texas is still a relatively young country, and a lot of resources have not yet been put to use; neither factories nor trades of significant size exist, while the material for them is available in abundance. But how are they to develop, if on the part of the holders of capital only new slaves are acquired, and free labor is threatened by ever-increasing competition? And not only are masses of slaves flowing in from the neighboring slave states, but also by direct transport from Africa. Over the course of the last winter, five shiploads of African negroes were notoriously imported, three at the mouth of the Brazos and two at the mouth of the Colorado. How many more may have landed without it coming to public notice! The imported Africans, which I saw myself, were kept hidden in the reeds of the lower Colorado until they were bartered away. To my knowledge, the land authorities did not intervene anywhere, although it was known far up in the area that cheap negroes freshly imported from Africa were available."