subject about which Americans were then angrily disputing.

They asserted that it was the Rio Grande; but Spain, who

naturally did not want Americans so near her own territory,

denied the claim, and made the Sabine River the dividing line.

And as Spain had been the original possessor of Louisiana, she

considered herself authority on the subject.

The question was on every tongue, and it was but natural that

it should be discussed by Urrea and his physician. In fact,