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Show HO Ex. Doc. No. 41. the atmosphere not before -xi!'ling. In the Stales lll<'re ts scarr ly a ni <Thl where the moislurr will nnl collect on th · r,lnss exposrd to the 0a ir, suai('tl' lll in two or three minutes to prercnt the perfect transmission or li~hl. Nor ember 9.-Tlw df,cl of last ni ghts tlampn C!~ wns fell in the morninr, for, although the thermomet er was only :37° , lh cold was m ore . en s i b ll' t h a n in t b e d r y r<' g ions a l 25 ° . We started in ;·u1vanc or the command to eAp1orc the low er hell of mountain s by which we wcr, encompn ·sed. 'l'bc ftr:l thing we noticed in t h ' gorge was a promontory of pitch-s l o lH', against w lt i l' h the river impinged with f ·:trful force, for it wns now dcs<'cndiug at a rapi(i n1tc. l\1olmtin~ to th(' top of the rock, on a. beautiful table, we found sunk six or eight perfectly symmetrical and well-turned bol . , about ten inch s deep and six or eight will· at 1op; ncar one, in a remot pLtce, was a pil C'h stone well turned and faHh ioncll 1i k e a p <' s ll . 'l' h c s c c o u 1 d b <' n o t h i n g c ls c t h a n the <" o r n -m i 11 · o f long cxlind ra ces. Above this bed of pitch-stone, a bulle of calcareous :"and-ston' Rhot up to a great height, in th · . cams of which wcrr imb<!ddccl beautiful crystals of quartz. Turning the sharp angle of the promontory, we di:covcred a high pc·rpendicu1ar diJI' of calcareous spar and baked argillaccou ro ck, again s t which ll1 river also abutted, seamed so a· lo represent distinetly th flamcs of a volcano. A . ketch was made of it, and is presented with these not s. On the side of the rin·r opposite the igncou rocks, the ·butte rose in perpendicular and confused masse", 'fhi. cbain continued, not parallel, as l supposed, to the first clc. nibcd barrier, but cird d round to the cast, and united with it. It also united on the north side, forming a ba~in three or four mil<'s in lliamctn, in which''' ' enc·amped Jnst night. Ex ·cpt a few tufts of 1arn·a 1Vlt xicana, thc·sc hills were uarc of vrgctation. Away olf . to t~1c south, and bordcr.itJg on the banks of the river, covcrin p; the snrla ·e of the ground for one or two fC'd, was an inerustralion of h 1 a · k c c 11 u 1 a r 1 a v a or b a s·a lt, 1 i k c that s c c n a b o u t t h c R n ton . Nothing more was waut ·d to give the idea of an immense extinct volrano. Tb rough the cen trc <"I{' the crater the G i Ia now ptu : ucs its rapid cour c. Th ·Gila at this point, released from its mountain barri r flows ofr. quietly at the r ate> of three miles an hour into a wide' plain, wht.('h t·x tc n<~~ south al.most a~ far as the rye can r ach. Upon this plr~lll mez;cpntt', chamtz;a, the gr en aca ·ia, prosopi~, artt•misia, obLOllC ('UlleS •en~· , and r ·tahaya, were the only V<·gctalion. In one spot only :-.·e found a f_cw bun~hes of ~rass; more than fonr -fiflhs of thc' pla1n were dcst1tute o{ vegc~at1on; the soil, a light brown loos s~ndy earth, I suppo ell eontamcd something deleterious to vcgetat 1011 • .A. specimen of th,is soil was .. ubmittcd to Prof~ssor Frn c~, who snys: cc It is a light browt~ , luo~e ~andy c,u t.ll cont1umng carcoly anylll111g- t.oluulc tn water, the ~olution {riving only llu.nt tndtcatw~s ol_ c~nnmon ~alt t~nd .caruunatc of limo. A very :-:mall portion of iron py•ttc ~o; ntsu. c?ntutncd to tt , .hut I 1mngtno tl~ want ot fertility muy mnrc pror>crly be u.ttrib· UtcJ lO Hs UChClC JI(')' Ul Or"lllllC matter:.. '1 Ex Doc. No. 41. 81 W c m~•le ot~r no?n halt at th.c gra~::; patch. Al tlti: place were th r 'mams o1 an 1mm •nsc Ind~an s~'ttlcn~(\.11t; P?ltcry was evnywher . lo be foun.cl, but the remams oi the 1oundaLLops of the hous s w r e . m: be cl d c c 1 1 n d _u st. T h c out~ i n r s o ~ t h ·. a~ q u i as, by which thry trn gate cl th' sod, were somctnnes qutlc dt sttnd. The ~oil was moist, and wh 'r ver thr ~·oot pressed the g ronn<llh 8 a 1t s 0 f t h.c cart h c m 0 res c ~ d ' an ( l gave ll l h (' :1 p p ear an c c 0 [ be i n 0' coveretl w1th .frost. In. tlus way the numberl ess tracks of horse~ ~nd ?ther anunals, wluch had fit times trav c rscll the plains, were 1ndcltbl~, and ('Ould be traced for great distan <'s, by the <'YC in long whtle srams. ' \Ve found fr('sh ~rails of horses, which might be those of Crneral C~slr~, or the Ind1ans.. \Vhen leaving California, 'ja. tro's determ m a t.10 n , as we J car n 1 rom Cars o ~ , was t ? go t o So n or a, b rat u p n·<·rulls, an.d return. Our routr mtght ·astly he rcachrd, for wr are now marchtng .along a road evcrywher' acccssiblr, and within three da.ys' mareh of the sdllc.mcnts of Sonora and th fort at Tucsoon £<ttd lo be regularly garnson<'d by Mexican soldi<'rs. ' vVe pc~s d tltc des rtcd ]odges ?1 lndians, and, at one placr ~emote !rom the lodges, we saw tb.trlcen poles sel up in a sort of 1ncn~tatt_on formula; twelve on th eucqmferen·ce of a circle twenty feet Jn d.~tunctcr, and one in the crnlrc. Radii were drawn' on the ~-r~UJ~tl from tl,1e crntre yolc to ca('h on~ .in lll<' prriphery of the cur~~· H was the figurtng of sc~me m<'dL('tne mt1n of the Apac·hes or J unos, '~'c. <:ould_ not tc..ll wlu ·h, for it was on neutral groun<l a b o 11. t . t h e d 1 ~· \( lt n g lt n e o f t .h e p o s s c s s i o n s c 1 a i m <' tl h y c a <' h . Aft.< r lca~tng the mo.unta1ns all . ccmccl for a moment to considl'r the .ddficulttcs of our .JOUrn y at an <'nd. The mult'S w 'nl otr at a frolt<'som pace! those w1~ich were loose eontcn<ling with eal'h othrr for prr.cc dc;Jlt'C 111 _the tr<ul. Th howitz;ers, wlli<'h had nt>arly cv •ry part oi .thrtr runntng g-ear ~roken and rrplarcd, w re, pcrhap", the only tlun~ that, w 'rc bencftlted by the chauge from tht• rnouutains to the platns. These were under th 'hargc of Li utcnant J)avidS? n,,wh_os,c post has ben no sinecure. Jn overcoming one set of cldfi cult.trs we were. now to ncount r another. In lca.ving the mountcun~ we were 111formc_d that '~' · bade adi u to gra ·s; and our mules mu. t henceforth subs1st on wtllow, cotton wood anti the long grern ephedra. ' Noven~bcr 10.- The vallry on the south rn side of the Gila still grows \~tde.r. Away off in that dire ction, the peaks of the Sonora ~onnta111s JUSt peep above the horizon. On the north side of the Nver, an.cl a . few miles from it, runs . a low chain of serrated hills. ear out et~c~mpm nt? a eorrcspondmg range draws in from the ~f~~he.ast,gtvll1g the nv r a b~nclto the north. At the base of this \lam.Is a Jong meadow, reaclung for many mile south in which t le ~11no: graze their cattle; and along lhc whol day's m'arch were rema1n of zequias, poll ry, and .other evidence of a once den sely J>OJ~ulated country. About the t1me of the noon halt, a larg (' pile, WLt ·h sc mctl the work of human hands, was scrn to the left. li was the remains. of a tltrcc-slory mucl house, GO fe t sqnarc, picreecl for doors and w1ndows. The walls were four feet thick and formed 6 ' |