The Donaldsonville chief. [volume] (Donaldsonville, La.) 1871-current, 1877-10-06

que hubiere UacaRte tras al eabo de
los Suso dicho 9udranta arpanes de
foado." 10, 7. On the 9th of
Sept, 1776, Unzaga accordingly issued
the usual warrant or order of survey,
requiring that Captain Louis Andry
shall go on the land mentioned in the
foregoing petition, and shall put the
petitioner in possession of the land
which may there be vacant on the
back of the forty arpents of depth
which he possesses, and running in
the same directions, provided the
same be vacant and do not injure the
neighbors." (Toombs' Rept. No. $50
36th Congress session. Senate, p 2.
4" Indian tribes were entitled by
settlement under the Spanish govern
ment to the quantity of land contained
in league square ~ (Naes q. Gillard,
VII N. s., 3l4,J and if all died, or
removed permanently, the land re-
verted to the crown, not by forfeiture,
but by the implied right of reversion.n
(Breaur 2. Johns, ". a, 14l.) AS
the Bayou Goula and Houmas tribes
only claimed and sold to the depth of
40 arpents, and moved to the oppo
site side of the river after the sale, it
can not be pretended that Conway
derived from them any right to the
rear lands, even admitting that the
two tribes together originally owned
two square leagues of land. The
land not relinquIshed to Latil and
Conway, if any there was, reverted to
the crown on the abandonment of the
former Indian villages. Your petit
tioper," says Conway to the Gov
crnor, has no right thereto, in con-
sequence of your not having granted
to him but the common depth of
forty arpenta." (Senate Document As,
p. 34.)
On the 9th of October, I776, Andry
executed the order of survey in the
usual method, and afterwards pre-
pared the plat and certificate of his
operations. BY measurements on the
front of the claim, &c in the woods"
he found that the first concession had
front of 90 arpents and an opening
of 100 degrees. He then ran both side
lines back through the woods" and
established the two back corners, at
the depth of 40 arpents from the
river. He afterwards produced each
line two arpents further back,
planted two other posts, and finished
his survey, without ruhnis fa,rhe back
line of the front tract. So that, the
two front corners of the rear tract,
and IL post on each side line at the
distance of two arpents back from
these front corners respectively, con-
stituted the field operations of Andry.
1t does not appear that the side lines
of the rear tract were married at all.
(Toombs' Report, 2. Senate Document
as, p. 81
Although it was the duty and Gus
tom of Andry to make three copies of
his plat and certificate in each case
{ american State Papers, Public
Lands. =, 290,-Green's ed and al
though he distinctly states in this
case, according to custom, that
copy was given to Conway /; (Toombs'
Report, 2, and although that copy
would probably obviate all doubt of
the extent of the Houmas grant and
although the certificate of survey
dUUuuuruS rzrfrSfCr47i.as- boon
sedulously preserved yet the plat of
survey, which customarily accompa-
MES the certificate, and is designed
by Spanish surveyors to explain the
extent of the survey and limit the
generality of the certificate, has
never been produced. The infere nce
is irresistible, that theHoumas claim
ants deem that plat fatal and the
vagueness of the certificate favorable
to their pretensions. The cardinal
maxims of the law declare, that all
things are presumed against a party
ChO suppresses has testimony that
trcud turks IN geRerGities and that
fraudulent men are skilled In them.
The law will not allow the Houmas
claimants to take advantage of their
own wrong and profit by the suppress
sion of their own testimony.
TO BE CONTINUED.