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Show ()6 Ex. Doc. No. 41. c1 1 n n ge ·l l • '"~' 'I1 c ,v}1o1e. wa' y was• a sucres ion of slbe ep I ascenl ts and ocsr('nts, pavcu..1 w1• t h s }1 a r 1) an g u b. r f rag m n t of as a t an c t r a p . c , c < • , The metallic clink of spurs, aoll the rallltng of the mule shoes, the hi h b 1 a c }c peak 8 , t h c d e e p d a. r k r a vi n e s, a~< 1 t h e tlll ~a r l hI y l o o_k · g t , 1 "1 c }1 t u c k o u l from t b e rocks 1t k c t h c car s o f M r ph L s- mrr ca us,"' l l. h tophelcs, all favor<'d the id a that ·we were now trra< mg on t e verge of tlt regions bel ow. Occasionally a mule gave l~J~ ~he gh?st~ and was left a· a propitiatory tribute to the place. .11lls day::; JOUrney cost us some twelve or f1flcen 1~1ules; one of_1r:1ne f'll h~acllong down a precipice, an_d, to the surpnsc of all? survtvctl th f,1ll. The barometric hctghl was taken scv~raltuncs to-d~y. Long ~ncl anxious was my tudy of these mountatn~, to ascertam s?methmg of th ir general direction ancl form. Those on the north ~ICle swept in , om ct h in g 1 ike a rcgu lar cu rvc _from our _camp of last n 1 ght lo ~he mouth of the an Carlos, de <:>ply 1nclcntecl 111 two places hy tl~e mgress into the Gila of the Prierte (Black) and Azul (Blue) nvcr~. Tho c on the , oulh, whNe we passc1l, w~rc a confus~d mass o_f basalt and trap, a1Hl 1 could give_ no tlirc chon to the axts of maxtmum elevation. They seemed to dnft off to the southea~l. Whe~revcr th ye wandered, huge moun ta_i ns were s~cn of b 1 aC"~, vo 1 can ~ ~ appearance of v ry compact arg illaceous lunrstonr, tmgcd at l1mcs with sca:lct frora the quantities of red feldspar. 'rhrough these the Gila (now swift) ha cut its narrow way with infinite l~1bor, as islet! by the influx of the Pricrte, lh Azul and San Car.los r~v~rs. As ~he story goes, the Pricrtc flows ddwn from ~he mo~ntatns, frc1ghted wtth gold. lls.andsaresaidtobcfulloftlu prcc10u~mctal. Afewacl'" c n t u r 'r s, w h o as c c n t1 c c1 l b is r i v c r h u n tin g b c a v c r , 'vas h c d t h c san d s at nio·ht when th y hailed, ancl were richly reward ed for their trouble. Tl'mptc1l by their success, they made a sr ·ond trip, an<l w?rc attacked and most of them killed by the Indians. My authonty for thi s . tatcm ntis Lon1leau, who, though an illiterate man, is truthful. OclobcT 27.-After yesterday's \vorlc we were obliged to lay by to-clay. The howitzers. came up late in the afternoon. They arc small , mounted on wheels ten feet in circumference, which stand apart abont three feet, and \\'i th the a istan ce of men on foot, arc ab le to go in almost any plaC'e a mule ran go . I . troll<"d a mile or two ·up the an C<trlo s , an!l found the whole .li.;tnncP, it hns its way 111 a narrow cafiou, worn f'rom the solid ~Ja.salt. On t'ither side, in the lim e:. lone tuHier th ha1'alt \\icre 1111- men c cavities, which mu. t have brcn at times the abod es of India~s ancl the dens of beasts. The remains of fire and th bonrs of antmals attested this. Ncar its moulh we founcl the founllation of a rectangular house, ancl on a mound rldjacent that of a circular building, a few feet in diam ter. Th ruin was probably that of a shepherd's hous , with a cirrular building adjoining as a look-out_, ~s ther was no ground in the neighborhood which was suited for Hrigation. Both these ruins were of round unhewn stones, and the first was surrounded by pieces of broken pottery. Digging a few feel brought us to a solicl ma ·s which was most likely a dirt floor, such as is now uc::e cl by the 1 paniarcl ·. In my walk I cncount red a settlement of tarantulas; as I approached, four or five rushed to the front of their little caves in an , Ex. Doc. No. 41. 67 allitutle of c1cfcnce. I threw a pebble at them, and it wou1cl be hard to imagine, conccn trat d in so mall a spac , so much xprcssion of dcfian · , ragr, and ~~bility to do mischief, as the tarantula presents. Our camp was ncar an o]d A pachc amp. The carcas cs of rattle in every direction bclok ned it to have bcPn the ccne of a festival after one of their forays into the pani h territory. The Gila at this pla ·e i much . wollen by the amu nee of the three streams just mentioned, and its cro section h re is about 70 feet by 4. The waters ·hangc their color, and arc slightly tainted with salt; indeed, ju ·t below our camp there came from tL.e side of an impending mountain, a spri ng so highly charged with salt as to be altog lhcr unpalatable. ev rnl exquisite fcrJtS were plucked at the spring, and a new green- bar keel aC'a ·ia, covering the plains above the riv r bed, but Ycg lalion g nerally was very s ·arcc; this is the first camp since leaving the Del Norte, in which \vc have not had good gra s. At Sh. 40m., a meteor of surpassing ~plcndor started und r con~ tcllation lyra, about 20 degr ·cs above the horizon, and went oif towanls the outh, projected against a blade cloud. The clouds interfered with my ob ·ervations; but such as they wer , 12 altitudes of polaris, 9 of alpha nndromeclx, and 9 of alpha • l y r.[C, an d 1 6 dig~ an r c s b e t w c (' n t h c D an d a 1 ph a p e g t1 , i , g a v c t h c laltlude of the camp 32° 53' 1611 , ancl the longitude 109° 31' 3411 • October 28.- 0ne or two miles' riuc, and we w rc cl ar of the Dlaclc mountains, ancl again m thr valley of the Gila, whi ·h widened out gradually to the base of Mount Graham, abreast of which 'vc encamped. Alma t forth whole di . lancc, tw ' nly miles, w ~ re found at intervals the remains of house · like 1 ho e before described . .Just before rea<'hing the base of Mount Graham, a wide valley sm?oth an~llcvel, comes in from the south-cast. Up this va1l<·y ar~ tratls l~adwg to San l3<•rnaclino, Frontera and Tucsoon. Here ~]so ihe trad by the Ojo Cavallo comes in turning "the southern abutm_ ents _of the l3lack mountains, along which Capt. Coole is lo come With Ins wagon . At the j un clion of this valley with the G i I a are th ruins of a large settl em en l. 1 f onnd trace of a ci rc u Ia r wall 270 f c t in ·c i r<' 11 en f <.: r en < • (' • Jl en· a 1 so w a. on c i r c u I a r <' n c 1 o sur c of 1 0 0 y " r < 1 c:: 'rhis must ha~e been for defence. In one . <'gmenl was- a. triaz~~ gular ~ hapcd 1ndcnlure, which we supposed . to be a well. L~rge mr7.qutle now grow in it, attcsti11g its antiquity. Most of the houses nrc rectangular, varying from 20 to 100 ft>cl front· many were of the form of the present panish house , thus: ' .. • COURT' I • • |