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Show [ 23] 70 tremity rests on an upn· g ht ' an d the other is upheld tb' y anf inh-ex. d · k th t rests on the upper burr, so that the mo Ion o t e clmt! .sttc . a tl' g motion to the trou<rh and hopper; thus the burr gtves a JOS m o f th b d grain falls into the opening in the centre o e upper urr, an asses out between the two burrs. . . P I h · the alcalde came and mvtted us to a fandango. Wn hti lset esvkeentmchgi,n g some of the b ut' ld'm gs . th t a la m · e owns, rge concourse o f the l·nhabitant s collected -a... r ou u · m , eagPth.r to s'ethe what I was doing. I took the opportunitY: to Impress e~ Wlh the idea of the numerous bodi es. of Amencan.s who were m t e country. I told them that large bodies of soldters were to be s-tationed at Albuquerque, this ~inter; that. there were troops at Co-that th ere were troops m the N a vaJ oe country, and troops at vse rot, Fe And as to the Mexi· cans havi· ng sai·C I th a t th ey were c~~i~g f;om c'hihuahua, by this route~ to Santa Fe, that they lied; the people of Chihuahua talked of what .. they would do, wh.tle the Americans have already gone down the nver to meet them, If they dare come. These things they knew to . be t.r'!e, for they all are well acquainted with the motives and dtspos1tLon of our forces. From that moment there was a great change in the conduct of the people. . In the evening I went to the fandango, and met w1th a merry and happy-hearted set. They all danced, and s?arce . a moment during the evening but what t)le floor was occupted wtth coupleS whirling in tht· gr~ceful waltz. They danced th~ " ~umbe," they waltzed, and danced again. The alcalde and his wife sat. at th1~ , head of the room; she had a black bottle full of " aguardtente, this she dealt to the most honored; and a peasant went round the room sel1ing apples. The music was produced by guitars, violins, and voices. The- singers composed their songs impromptu; and often the listeners would burst forth into lengthened p eals oflau~hter, at some happy stroke of the witty improvisator. While here, I made the acquaintance of "El Sti'ior D0n Pedro Baca," one who has charge of the silver miues. H e t~ld me that there is, in the mountains, mines of silv er, copper, iron, a~d "azogue;" by this last word, I understood him to mean quicks~lver; but in strict mining language, " ,azogue" is used to mean ~nlver ore adapted for amalgamation; for the ores that I brought ~o the United States, and which he called "azogue," do not contam any mercury. . Upon my expressing a desire to obtain some of the ores, he s;wl that he would send at once; it was now, near 10 o'clock at night, and I begged hin1 not to think of putting hi mself to so much tro~ble? but he insisted on sending, and fold me that if I would w~1t untd 12 o'clo<:k the next day, that his men would return wtth plenty of specimens of the ore. As I still insisted on. his not goIng to such g·reat inconvenience, he said that he was 0bliged to sencl out, and whether I waited or not he should do so. I therefore consented to remain. November 4.-As I should. be detained here until midday, I sent for~ard the wagon and party, anci went with El Stiior Don Pedro, to hzs house, there to await the· arrival of the messenger with the 71 [ 231 specimens. He gnve me a book containing the laws of the mines, and spoke much of the productiveness of the "labores" of Manzano which he represented as greatly superior to those of Socorro, ash~ had once worked those of the latter place. This man was the wonder of the villag.e; he had been to Matamoras and to New. Orleans; ancl while I was there, took the opportunity to give a long accouut to his friends of the great steamboats on ":ater, and -the little steamboats on Janel, that run along on roads of uon; C~ n d concluded his discourse by saying, "what in the whole world shows more beautifully the wonderful genius of man than steambo~ts and .steam cars?" The rest of the time was consumed in looking over some plants; he pointed out a species of wild marjorem, that he called "Oregon." • -At llh o'clock, the man that was sent returned, hringjng numerous specimens of silver ore. He said that he could have got me specimens of the copper, and other silver ores, but the mines were too far for him to go and return by 12 o'clock. My friend called t he quartz "quixa;" also "madre de ]a plata." I now bade adieu to my generous entertainers, and with thousands of extravagant compliments from the kind people, I set out ~to overtake the party. After travelling sout.heast for 6 miles, I reached the an cient village of "Quarril;." Here there is yet standing the walls of a time-worn cathedral; it is composed entirely of stone, red sandstone; the pieces are not more than 2 inehes thick. The walls are 2 feet wide, and the outer face dressed off to a perfectly plain surface. The ground plan presents the form of a cross, with re ctangular projections in each of the angles. The short arni of the cross is 33 feet 2 inches wide; the long arm is 18 feet 9 inches wide; their axis are, respectively, 50 fe et long, and 11~ feet long, and their intersection is :30 feet from the h ead of the cro!'s. The r e, ctangular projections that partly fill th e angles formed by the arms, are 6 feet square. At the foot of the cross are rectangular projections, that measure 10 feet in the direction of the long axis, and 6 fe et in the other direction. Around the · church arc the less conspicuous rem(\ins of numerous hottses, that .had been built of the same material, and the surfaces of the walls .finished with tool s ; but th ese houses are alrrtost level with the earth, while the walls of the ancient church rises to the height of 60 feet. While making my measurements, assisted by one of the m~n who had rem ained with me, a :Mexican came up to me anli satd in the most mysterious way, "I know something of great mom~ nt, and want to spe ak to yo.u, to you alone; no one must be near; come with me to my house." I went; but when we .a:rived there, we foun tl an old ruin fittf'd up with such m·odern acldi tlOn as. was necessary to render it habitable. Here were sever I women. I sa~ some ttme, talkin O' of inddferent matters, waiting anxiously the Importa-nt secret; b~t my frieQd did not like the presence of the women, and wou I d not te 11 me then; so I got ready to recommen~ e my journey, while he endeavored, m a thousand ways, to . detain me. I asked him some questions about the geogra.phy ~f :the country, and about the famous place called "Gran Qu1vera. ' . |
