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Show .. , [ 23] 78 ' stalkm. g a b ou t th e 1·r mar. gins·' but they will not allow any one, with' un in band' to approach. . h a gW e nott· ce d seVt! ral vineyards neat us; bth e vtneds ad been . d off very ~hort, and were surrounded y mo'l\n s of earth, btreutaw meee n 2 an d 21 feet high to protect them from the frosts ~ ' of winter. A · ] Nov em.b er 7 ·- Hearing that some . men cans w· ere· enc·a fm phec near t messenger to them , In order to mqutre 1 t ey had us, wle sen a from Chihuahua. W ~ learned from Mr. R. Gentry hearc any news .J Ch" h h b . the rumor th a t Genera 1 Wool had ente· r8nd 1 ua ua; ut no post· tive information had as yet been r~ceJve . - . L eavl·D g c as a Colo·racla, , we con t1 1ed our wayd down the bR 10 del N orte. H avi· ng proceeded four m d e. ~, we crobs se thh e mout o.f the tream that rises near Abo. One n de more roug t us oppost.teto· ts h e town o f "Savina!." W· e also . passed a cluster of 'ld r a· nche__t L~dars· ;" t S ven miles from one pomt of departure, an m su;r.:tent one bse toe 'he dignified by the name o f " R anc h o d e M."1 t ra. " num er 4 After marching 12 mile"' s we encam~ec1 on ·a sa It p 1a m· , by tb e side of the riv-er, clo&e b~· some eotton wood tree's. H~e we noticed some pools of beautif-ully cl r ar w~ter, a?d, on stooptng down· t 0 t ·te of the inviting element, we found 1t perfectly saturated witha ss alt. The plain around- us a~ . co.vere d wl· t h a w h1"t ~ ef fl ores· cence that one could serape off wtth great ea.se, and, m a httle time obtain an abundance of salt. · · N~vember 8.-Last night the wind blew so strong as to e~danger th~ stability of our tent. Streams of rain were driven agawst the cloth walls of our frail shelter by the strong northwest blast; for the wintl bad changed diametrically opposite to its course when we first encamped. . . . This morning the bad we~ther yet continued. A cold damp ~1st is incessantly descending. At · length we saw gleams of sunshtne now and then illumine the distant hills, and we started. A~ou~J2 o'clock the wind changed to the southeast, the mist ceased t~l~tng,, aml cleared away, but the blast blew chill, and we. were tal~ t~ wrap ourselves closely in our " til mas.'' After marchmg four m~les we arrived opposite to the mouth of the Rio Puereo, and three miles. more brourrht us to the town nf "La Joya Je Cibolleta." I wa~ sti·uck with this name when I first heard it, for it is not Ct>bo.\leta; but one finds in the name a trace of the ancient kingdom of C1bola. This place is" the jewt!l of Cibola." ' We were much amused wiih the laconic replies of some person,~; that we met upon the roau-whence do you come? "De abw~"t (from below.) Where are y o u go i ~ g? ''A rr i b a," (above· ) ' :b news- have you' "Nada," (nothmg.) Men who can g1ve su non-committal answers certainly possess considerable finessed There is much more wit in these replies than m the stereotyped joke of "comprendo pero no ql,liero," that is every_where echo~. through New Mexico. Alas the degeneracy of the tHnes. 0 te. pora 1 0 mores! It would make Cervantes weep, anl....~' ' m· de s pa1r ' burn up his works. . $3 At J oya we purchase.d some corn for cur mules at the rate of 79 [ 23 J • he "fan ega." Continuing on to J oyeta, which is six mile~ furthe~, tw e enca mped unde.r, a large · grove of cotton wood trees 1n the Vl-cinity of an aceqUia. . d b k The course of th~ river to- day w:as to_rtu ous; htgh san an s· closed in on each · stde, almost obht1e1rahnffi~ ~he 1 valbley, 1 exfcept .at J d Joyeta where there are fie c s su c1ent y roa1 or rats- ' ino yac oarnn enough ' to supply the wants o f t h e peop l e, an d to af.f ~ r d g ing grounds for their cattle. To- day we saw great quan t1t1es ~~a~he mezquit "prosopis glandulosa," and. a curious evergreen !ant, belonging to ~he zygopy 11 aceae, that gn·~s out a very P.un- P nt odor resembling kreosote. It occurs m dense sphencal gea sses sim' ilar to the common box, w h I· C h , at a 1·1 tt I e d.t stance, 1. t ~semb'Ies. Its height~ is not more than two to three feet: The leaves are entire, as large as those of the bo_x, and shap~~ hke t?e tail of the · letter Q. It loves a sandy soil, and ·prefers the-hill sides to the plain:;. . . NotJember 9.-From Joya we observed qUite a clfa.nge m the appearance · of the country. T~e river banks are no_:w heavily .~mber~ with cotton wood; tlre htgh sancl bluffs close m to the nver, and the climate has become mueh milder, while the plants aroffnd show a great change of latitude. 'Of cacti four varieties have suddenly burst upon us, and there we. found the broad p~~mated variety growing in magnificent luxunance. The leaves, It I may so call them, measure 14 inches in length and 11 inches in breadth. We also saw a variety with a stem resembling that of a young s~oot of the orange tree, one-third of an inch in d~amet~r, wit.h spines two and three inches long, and these covered wtth thm semitransparent sheaths. The "C. undulata" covered the hill sides, mingled w1th the mezquit "P. gland~losa . ~' As we pursued our way along the nver stele, we saw many ·fiocl<:s of sheep that the "pastores" had ~!riven in from the n::ountai ns , for fear of the "Navajoes." The whole country was In a state of alarm, and the road was lined with "voluntarios" hurrying to the rendezvous. At Sabino we found that many had already assembled, armed with muskets and escopettes, with cartridge boxes that were buekled round the waist, full of death-dealing lead and powder. . After passing through the town, we still found the people gathermg together in little groups, the valley still full of sheep and goats,. so that the hills reso.unded with their bleating. After marching 11 miles we reached Parida, and passing two miles beyond the town., we encamped at the foot of a high sandy bluff, which we will have to cross to-morrow. Our mules will then be ready for climbing the steep anti sandy acclivity. "Socorro" is on the opposite side of the river, and one mile bdow us. From the hill near which we have encamped there is a fine view of Socorro and the ruins of 1 " Las Hue·tas," four miles below, as well as of Limitar, which is seven miles above. Between us and the above named places rolled the waters of the Rio del Norte, which are here bordered by groves of large cotton wo.od trees. In the back ground, about 10 miles to · the westward, rises a range of lofty p.eaks, some 1,000 feet in |
