About four in the afternoon
Unfortunately there is one thing that can not alter -- the climate and the nature of the soil . The suffocating heat that almost continually prevails in the town corrodes the earth and changes it into an impalpable dust , in which you sink up to the knees , and which , at the least breath of air , penetrates into the eyes , mouth , and nostrils ; myriads of mosquitoes , whose stings are extremely painful ; and , above all , the bad quality of the water , which the inhabitants collect with great difficulty in plank reservoirs during the rainy season , and which the sun renders boiling -- these grievous occurrences , especially for Europeans , render a residence at Galveston insupportable , and even most dangerous . The Texans themselves so greatly fear the deadly influence of this climate that , during the torrid heat of summer , rich persons emigrate by hundreds to the mainland , so that the town , which becomes almost suddenly deserted by this momentary departure , assumes a look of sad desolation which is painful to behold . About four in the afternoon , at the moment when the rising sea breeze began to refresh the atmosphere , a little Indian canoe , made of beech bark , left the mainland , and vigorously impelled by two men supplied with wide sculls , proceeded toward the city and pulled alongside the plank quay , which served at that time as the landing place . So soon as the canoe was stationary , a third person , carelessly reclining in the stern sheets , rose , looked round him as if to recognise the spot where he was ; then , taking a spring , he landed on the quay . The canoe immediately turned round , though not a syllable had been exchanged between the scullers and the passenger they had brought . The latter then pulled his hat over his eyes , wrapped himself carefully in the folds of a wide zarapé of Indian fabric and striking colour , and proceeded hastily towards the centre of the city .