OCR Text |
Show 44 49. est op F o g rc de1 pe: thr as p r( r t ril t he tlH phi ka: 1 pa1 Yo g u,l. qu: be~ .. ...... 1 led 1 of ere thi mg J tra tic me li 6 cul t io t io • 46 Ex. Doc. No. 41. the topography. of the country, ancl also the ignorance of foreigners who have lived fiftcrn or twenty years in Santa Fe, no one roultl tl•ll me where Lhr Rio Santa F'<.'· debouched into the Rio Grande. I may here remark, that every n ighl 1 furnished the lli ,·tanrcs travell ed over 1o General Kearny at h •adC[tlarlPrs, ancl very often (whenever H' C[uircd) the latitude. of the camp. In many case. these and the d i. L11H' es have been pub l t:::hcd; I shall, therefo rc, no l repeat them. 'L'h(' l at it ucl cs in 8omc c a~es have been inc or red 1 y report 'd, ancl in others rccomputrcl, and arc therefore now given as final rcsu ltr-;. Scplcmbrr 26, 27, 28, 29, and 30.-We marched over the same O'round already travelled over ancl described, between the 2d and 7th of Sept<' Ill ber. ]3 e low Z n n d i a w c were a tL r act c d by a r; rea t noise. It pro ceed c ci from a n ighboring rancheria, wh('re we aw eight or ten naked fellows hatnm.cring away in a trouO'h full of cornstalks, as I had never Rel'n McxiC'ans exert themselves uefore. The perspiration from their bodie · was rolling off into the trough in profu ·ion, and mingling with the crushe<l cane. This was then taken out, boiled, and transferred to a press, as primitive in construction as any• thing from the hands of Father Abraham. T he hopper was the trunk of a scoopell colton wood tree, into this was inserted a billet of wood, upon which the lever rested about midway. Men, w~men, and children were mountccl on each end; all see-:sawing in the highest g1(•e. I suggested, as an improvement, that one end of the lever be confined, and the whole of the living weight be transferred to the other entl. "No! No!" said the head man , "if I do toot, the fun ot' sre-sawing will be over, a.ncl l can't get any body to work." The man was a disciple of Charles Fourier, and desired "to make labor attractive." The morning of the 29th opened with a granll trade in mules and horses. A few clays' experience was quite enough to warn us that our outfit would not answer, and the general directed th.at all the poor mules ana horses should be exchanged for fat ones. The ~ccne reminded one more of a horse market than a regular camp. The more liberal were our offers for the animals, the more cxorbitan t became tl~ c1cmands of the Mexicans. At Alburtucrque I was directed to call and sec lVTadamc Ar. mijo, and ask her for the mnp of New M xieo, belonging to her -husband, which :;:he had in her posse sion. I found her ladyship sitting on an ottoman smoking, a lter the fashion of her countrywomen, within reach of a small silver vase filled v. ith coal. She snid she had sen ·heel for the map without success; if not in Santa F6, her husband mu. t have taken it with him to Chihuahua. W c crossed the Rio Grande del N ortc. at Albuquerque, ils width was about twenty-fi~r e yarc1s, and its de('lpest part just up to the hu~s ?f tl.lc wheels: It 1s low at present, but at no time, we learned, lS 1ts n se exccs:tvc-~carccly exceeding one or two feel. We encamped a little more than half way between Albuquerque antl Pardilbs, on a sandy plain, tlc stitule of wood, and with little grass . |