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Show \ •' I I (' I I . I ( .,.' f. I •:. I '/ I I I ' .' .i, . I ' 'I I I I .'...I · ·· I .I, . I I ',· l. ·. I t i I ~ ,, ~·· ... '/. .1, l1 1 I : [ 174 J 260 1 well timbered with cottonwood and willow, where was $Ome low P aces, tomary campino- grounds. Ilere a party of six Indians anoth~r of the ens or aud hnnory::l aud quite in keeping with the character came mto camp, p"lo'l ter·rc· arms wt>e re' bows o [ uuusna1 1c ngt h , an d eac l1 had 0 f the count·crJ y. t " d · 1 · l I ·· l 1<rthencd with 1neshes of cor , 111 w uc l lC carnec water. a large gotul,tos ~)e: ~le lVIohahve Indians mcutioucc.l by onr recent guide; They fHovec l . I fl l I bt· . .1 • . f tllem who "j}Okc . pants 1 ucnt y, o ameu some mter-and from one o ' ;;) .1 · •• 1 ' • A . . r . t1 · 0 11 wltich I would be glau to mtrouuce dele. n account c tmg JllJOrma ' d .1 b .1] . t f .. 1 · 11} 1 al>r' t 1· 11 ~r this region won\ unuou teu y possess tn crest or of the peop e l t- f · f' l · · · .l .. 1. .1 0 1·1 ()nr J·ourn y holllewn.rd was rmt u 111 HlCluC'ltt; aud the ClVllZeu W r u. J l · fl' ·d U 1 t . tl rot1ot1 which we travelled, althoug 1 ate ell, a 01 c much t 1e COUll 1 V l b . · · .1 · . l } · .l[ d • ,·1 tl.1e curiosity of the botam ·t; but lmutcu tune, ~HH t 1e rap1u ya. to eXt 1 C · b\ ' l l \l l' U d d · 011 vanclllg seas 'to' r active OJ)Crattons, o t. gc me o. onu . a ex eu c e- · t' 11 .1 llllt·ry "riefly to the collclnston of tins rcpott. ~cnp 10ns, a u u .1 r b f The 1 nu ian w bo spoke Spaui!:;h hatl been cduc~teu 1or anum cr o y~ars at oue of the .. paui::;h mi sions, an?, at the brealnng up of those estabhsh-t . 1t' ·' ret tuned to tbe nwntltams, where he had been found by a party mofe Jnl o:-;l, w/awue (sometimes called .llmuchaba) I nu.l·t ans, anwng w l1 om l I d 1e 1a f•vtr ... ince rrsidrd. " . , lle spoke of the leader or the p~·ese~lt party as nu amf~, (my,~ast?r.) lie said they lived npun a. large nver m the southea~t, whtch the. sold1ers called the Rio Colorado;" but that, formerly, a portiOn of them !tved upon this river, and among the 1nountains which had bounded th~ nver valley to the northward du!"ing the day, and that h?re along the nver they h.ad raised various kinds of melons. They somcttmC's came over to trade With the Indian~ of tl te Sie rra., bringing with them blankets and goods mauuf~ctured L>y the l\1onq uis and other. ~olorado Itl~ians. Tiley mrel yearned home horses, on account of the dtllicul ty of gettmg then1 ~eros · the .dcser~, and of guanliug them afterwards fr~m the ~a-utah lndt~u~, who mhabtt the . ierra, at the head of the Ri~ Vtrgen, ( n ver ?f t.hc V!rgtn.) . lie informed us tlwt, a short d1stance below, tins nver fuw.lly d.rsappearcd. The two c.lifl'ereut portions in which water is found lm? recetvedfrom tlle priests two different uarnes; alld subsequently I heard It called by the Spaniard, the Rio de las .llnimas, but on the tnap we have called rt the iWolw!we river. ..flJJril 24.-W c continued down the stream (or rather its bed) for about eio-ht miles, where there was water still in several holes, . and cncamp~d. 'l'he caravans sometimes continue below, to tho end of the nver, from whtch there i~ a very long Jornada of perhaps sixty miles, without water. Here a singnlar and new species of acacia, witb spiral pods or s.cec.l vessel~, made its first appeara11ce; becoming henceforward, for a con"1~erable dtstauce, a characteristic tree. It was here comparatively large, bemg abot.lt .20 feet in height, with a full and spreading top, the lower hran~hcs dechmng t~· wards the gronud. It afterwards occurred of smaller size, frequent!~ m groves, and is very fragrant. It has been called by Dr. Torrey spzrolob~tt~l odoralttm. The zygophylla.ceous shrub had been constantly charactenstlc of the plains along the river; and here, atnong n1a:ny new plants,,~ new and very remarkable species of eriogonu1n ( eriogonwm injlat~um, I orr. & Frcm.) made its first appea.ra.~ce. . . . . t Our cattle had become so tired and poor by th1s fat1gmng tra velllng, tha tliTee of ~hem were killr.cl here, and tho meat dried. The ~ndians i1ad 1da'v an occaswn for a great feast, and were occupied the remamder of the Y 261 [ 174 J and all the night in cooking and eating. Tltcre was no part of the animal ftJr which the~ did not find some usc, except t.hc bones. fn the afternoo~t e were surpnsed by the sudden appearance lll the camp of two Mext~: ns-a man and a boy. The uame of the man was .!Jndreas Fuentes; and that of the boy, (a handsom.e .tac.l, ll years old,) ]Jablo lle?·nanrlez. 'fh(>y l)elongetl to a party cous1 ~ t.mg of s1x per ons, the remaining four being the \vife of Fuo~tc~, the fat!1or and :nother o[ Pablo, and Santiago Giacome, a resident o( Ne\V l\iex1co. Wnh a cavalcade of abont thirty horses, they hatl come out from . Pucbla de los Angeles, ncar the coast, under the guidance .of Giacome, m. ad vance of the great ~aravan, in order to travel more a.t le1sure, and outam better grass. IIavlLlg advanced a far iuto the desert as we; · co u ~idt red consistent with their safety, they halted at the .!lrchitette, one of the customary camping grounds, about 80 mile~ from our encampment, where there is a spring of good water, with sufll· cicnt grass ; and cone! nded t? a. wait there ~he ani val of the great car a ~an. Several Indians were soon discovered I nrlnng about the camp, who, m a day or two after, ca~ne in, aud, aft?r beha~ing i1~ ~very _fric!1dly manner, took their leave, Without a wakenmg any susp1c10ns. rhetr deportment bc()'at a security which proved fatal. In a few days afterwards, suddenly a party of about one hundred Indians appeared in sight, advancing to-wards the camp. ft was too late, or they see.mcd not to have presence of mind to take proper tnf'asures of safety ; and the Indians eha.rgeu down into their camp, shouting as they advanced, and discharging flights of arrows. Pablo and Fuentes were on ltor ·e guard at the time, and mounted, accord· ing to the custom of the country. One of the principal objects of the Indians was to get posse. sion of the horses, and part of them immediately surrounded the hand; but, in o bedicnce to the shouts of G iacomc, Fuentes drove the animals over and. through the assailants, in spite of their arrows; and, abandoning the rest to their fate, carried them ofr at speed aero s the plain. Knowing that they would be pursued by the Indians, without making any halt except to shift their saddles to other horses, they drove them on for about sixty mile ·, and this morning left them at a watering place (lll the trail, called Agua de Totna.so. Without giving themselves any time for rest, they hurried on, hoping to meet the pan ish ca.ra van, when they discoveretlmy camp. I received them kindly, taking tllCln into my own mess, ~nd promised them such aic.l as circumstances might put it in my power to g.1ve. . .!lpril25.-We left the river abruptly, and, turning to the north, rc.gaulCu 111 a few miles the main trail (which had left the river soouer than ourselves,) aud continued our 'way across a lower ridge of th~ mountaiu, through a miserable tract of sand and o-ra vel. We eros cd· a.t mtervals the broad beds of dry gullies, where in th~ season of rains and tneltiHg snows there would be brooks or rivulets · and at one of these, where there was no indication of water, were sever'at freshly-dug holes, in which there was water at the depth of two feet. These holes had been dug by the wolves, whose keen seusc of smell had scented the water under the dry sand. They Wet·e nice little wells, narrow, and dug straight down, and we got pleasant water out of then1. .The country had now assumed the character of an elevated and mountam? us desert; its general features being black, rocky ridges, bald, and d.estttute of timber, with sandy basins betweeu. \Vhere the si~es of these. rtdges are Washed by gullies, the plains bclGW are strewed \~lth beds ~f arge pebbles or rolled stones destructi vc to our soft-footeu anunals, accus- ' " ' ~',·1 . ~ '• ·, /, J ~ I, I 1 I, I, ' .j I J I lo I I ) ·j 1 ; ·) I ') I I l j J II ·'1 ') l i 1 /c 'I· J ,. ',i I ,I lr ',r ·, . . .. ~ / • { ! • "' |