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Show [ 7 J 30 Pecos once a fortified ·town, is buill on a promontory or rock, somewh~l in the hapc of a fool. lJ ere burned, until within seven years, the etcrn?I. fir~s of 1'rTo~tc7.uma, and the remain of the arch it c c lu r c c x lu b 1 t, m a prom L n c n t man ncr, t h c engraft men t of the Catholic ·hurch upon the ancient religion of the country. At one end of the hort spur forming the terminus of th · promontory, are the remains of the cstu!Ta, with all its parts distinc.t; at the other arc the remains of the Catholic church, both showing the distinctive marks and emblem of the two religions. The fires from the esluffa burned and sent their in cense through the same altars from which was pr ac:hcd the doctrine of Christ. Two religions so utterly different in theory, were here, as in all Mexico, blended in harmonious practice until about a century s in ce, when the town wa sacked by a band of Indian . \ Amidst the havoc of plunder of the city, the faithful Indian rnan' agcd to keep his .·fire burnin~ in the cstu!Ta; and i~ was cont~nueJ till a few y ars ·mce-lhc tnbe became almost exlmct. Thcu devotions rapidly diminished their numbers, until they became so few as to be unable to keep their immense c. tuff a (forty feet in d iamctcr) replenished, when they abandoned the place and joined a tribe of the original race over the mountains, about sixty miles south. There, it is said, to this day they keep up th eir fire, which has never y cl been c ·tinguished. The labor, watchfulness, and exposure to heal consequent on this practice of their fai~h, is fast reducing this rem nan l of the M ontczuma race ; and a few years will, in all probauility, see the last of this interesting people. The accompanying sketches will give a much more accura le represcn tation of these ruins than any written descriptions. TI.1e remains of the modern church, with ils crosses, its ccl1s, its dark mysterious corners and niches, differ but little from those of the present day in New J\1rxico. The architecture of the Indian portion of th'e ruins presents peculiarities worthy of notice. Both arc constructed of the same materials: the walls of sundried brick, the rafters of well-hewn timber, which could never have been hewn by the miserable little axes now used by the Mexi cans, which rc.sc~nble, .in sh~pc and s~7.e, the wedges used by our farmers for sphttmg rall s. lhc corn1ces and drops of the architrave in the modern church, arc elaborately carved with a knife. To-night we fountl excellent grass on the Rio Pecos, abreast of the ruins where the mollcrn village of Pecos is situated, with a very inconsiclcrablc population . .Jlugust 18. - ·W c were this morning 29 miles from Santa F6. Reliable information, from sc vera~ sour~es, had reached camp ycstenlay and the day before, that tllssenswns had arisen in Armijo's camp, w hi~h hatl dispersed his army, and lhat he had fled to· the south, ca rrying all hi· arti llery and 100 tlragoons with him. Not a hostile rifllc or arrow was now between the army and Santa Fe the capital of New Mexico, and the general determined to mak~ the march in one day, and raise lhc United States flag over the palace before sundown. New horses or mules were ordered for the artillery, antl every thing was braced up for a forced march. The /. ./ :r: |