OCR Text |
Show 31 [ 7] <list:-~ncc was not great, bnt th road b;ul, :1ntl th horses on their last legs. A small <lrtarhmcnt wa: sent forward at clay-hrcak, and at ·ix the army followed. Four or li\·c milrs from old P1·c os the road lrads. into a calion, with hills on rac!t side from 1,000 to 2,000 feet ahove the road, in all cases within canno n . hot, cllld in many within point blnnk mu~:kct shot; and this co ntinue· to a point but 12 or 15 miles from Santa Ji\'·. The S<'Cnery is wild; the geologicnl formn.ti on much th(' s<nne as before d serib d, until you b<'gin to descend towards thr Del Norte, when granitic ro ·ks and . ands arcs ·en in grca.t abunda n('c on the road :-IS far as anta F '•. cl'dilr. piiion, and a Lng<· growth of longlC'nf'ed pin e are densely crowded wh ·rever the rock afT'ords a crcv i c , u nl i 1 w i thin s i. or <' i g h t m i 1 r s of the to ·w n . F i rt <' c n m i 1 c s from Santa F6 we rca ·hrd the po ilion de:crlcd by Armijo. The topographical sk etch, by Li •utcnant l)(•ck, will give some iclea of it. ll is a gateway wllich, in th hn.nds of a skilful engine ·r and one hundred rcso'ule men, would have been perfectly imprecrnable. Had the position been defended with any resolution, the gen ral would have been G>b li ged to tu rn.it by a ro<td which branches to th sonth, si · mil s from P >cos, by the way of Galisteo. Armij o's arrangcm •nts for d"t!fcnce were very stupid. His abattis \-v as placell behind the gorge son1c 100 yards, by wJ1ich he cv lClcnt- 1y wtcnd d that the go rge should be passed befor his fire wns opened. 'L'hi don e, and his batteries would have been carried without d ifficu1ty. ]~cfor c reaching the calion the noon halt was made in a valley cover d '"ith some gama, and tl1c native potato in full bloom. The fruit was not quite as large as a wren's egg. As we approa ·h('< 1 the town, a few . trncrgling Am<'ricans came out, a ll l ooking anxiously for the general, who, with his staff, wa ·lad so plainly, that they pas. ed without r cogni z ing us. Another offic 'r an<l rnysclf were srnl nown to explore the by-roall by which ArmiJO fl ed. On our return to the main road, w saw two Mcxir·ans; one the acting se <·.retary of state, in . carch of tbc g<·nera1. 'l'hc•y had pa st·d him without knowing him. When we pointed in th · direction of the general, they broke into a full run ; tlu·ir hands an<l f'et keeping time to the pace of their nng:. \Ve followed in a sharp trot; and, as we thought, at a l'<'SJH' (' \ahlc distan c~ . Our astonishment was g rea t to ftnd, a. lh 'Y woun<l lhr oug;h the ravine, thr o u~h th open well-grown pine for ·st, that lhcy did not gain on u~ per ·cptibly. <c Certainly they arc in a full run, a11<l as certainly arc we only in a trot," we both exclaimed. I thought w were un<l r some optical delu sion, and tnrne(l to my servant to Rec the pace at which he w n s go in g. " A h ! " sa id h c , " tho s ' 1\'T c-...: i c a n h or · t' l:l m a 1 e a m i g h l y grl'a.l doing to no purpose." That wa.· a fad; witr1 their large cru 1 bits, they harr;1.ss their h or~cs iulo a motion whi ch enables t h m to g a 11 o p Y <.' r y 1 o n g w i l Ito u t I o sin g sight of t h e s t a rl i n g p I ace. Th ading s·crctary brough . a Jcttn f'rcm Vi gil, the lieutenant governor, informing th<' gene ral of Armijo fl ight, an!l of his readiness to reccirc him in l:>anla Fe, and extend to him the }JOpitalities |