Before the europeans discovered the new world, the main sea route to the far east was

The main sea route to trade was through the Mediterranean Sea, the Indian Ocean and around India and the islands of Malaysia and Singapore on up to Japan. Sometimes countries would also travel south around South Africa and across the Indian ocean. 

Texas’ gulf coastal plains are the western extension of the coastal plain extending from the atlantic ocean to beyond the rio grande. its characteristic rolling to hilly surface covered with a heavy growth of pine and hardwoods extends into east texas. in the increasingly arid west, however, its forests become secondary in nature, consisting largely of post oaks and, farther west, prairies and brushlands.