OCR Text |
Show 126 Ex. Doc. No. 41. 1 to 20 or 30 miles. The surface covC'rrd with vegetation, though small, i difiicult to e timate; an.d p rhaps it is unimportant that an e timat should be mad , sillCC the productiv ness of tht>Sl' regions depend on otlH•r con ideration than smoot hn e s of surfaee, ancl chart\ ter of soil. The rain cannot be r elied upon, and the tiller of the earth cl ep nels upon irrigation from the mountain str am!:? for his crops. 'The extent of ground, capab I e of t iII age, is thus recluc ·d to very narrow limits, easy of com pu tatio n. A knowled ge of the water co urses, their fall, volume and ·xt.(•nt, and the quantity of lands on th 'ir margin, within th ' lev I of these waters, are the data upon which the com putation mu ·t be ba . eel. Taking this as a guide, an inspection of the accompnnying map will give a g c n r a. 1 i d c a , of the ext t' n t of arab I e g r o u n d , s u fTi ric n t I y co rr • c t for a II p rae t i c a I p u ~ p o s e ~; b u t, i n c a n d o r it h o ul d b t' sa i d, that many slr ams ]aid down in it di:app •ar in the and, whil(' the r o · k y c 1 i fi's, fo r m i n g t h c ban k s of o t h · r s, r n d c r i r rig at i o n i mpracticabl . Th • scale upon which the JO(lp is projected i · too small to rc pr '· cnt th •se accidents of the ground. Wh re irri gation can be had in thi s country, th produ ce of the soil is abundant beyond description. All tht> g rai n nnd frui1s of the tc'mpcrale zones, and many of those of the tiopical, fl ouri ·h ~uxuriantly. Df'scenciing from the hei ghts of an llarnarrlo to the Pacifi c, one meets ev ry degree of temperature. Ncar the coa, t, th winds prevailing from th southwest in w1nt r, and from the northwest in summ r, produce a great uniformity of temperature, and the c li ~nate is p ·rhap· un urpa . eel in salubtily. With the (•x reption of a v•ry few cas 'S of ague and f•vcr of a mild type, s ic:kne is unknown. The sea on of the year at which we visitt•cl the country was unf a v or a b 1 e to o b t a i n in g a k n ow 1 d g e o f i l s b o t an y. 'l' he v c g <·1 at i on , m o s tl y d e c i d u o us, h ad go n c to d ·cay , an d n o flo w t' r s n o r s e ' d s we r c ~ollected. The country generally, is ntircly d e~ tit ul' of trees. A 1 on g t h e p r in c i pal range of moun t a i n s a r • a f c w I i v c o ::d< s, s y c amore, and pine; now and th n, but very rart>ly, th sy camore and cotton wood occur in the champaign country, immcdiat•ly on the margins of the streams. Wild oats very where cover the surface of the hill s, and thcsr, with the wild mustard and car rots, furnish good pa ·turagc to the immense herds of cattle, which form the sta ple of California. Of the many fruits ca pable of being pro<Ju ccd with success, by culture and irrigation, the grape is pcrJ1aps that which is brought nell rest to perfection. Men experi ' need in growing it, and Europeans, pronoun ce the soil and climate of this portion of Californta, unequall ed for the quality of the grap and the wine exprrsscd from it. We sailed from an D1ego on the 25 th of January , and eon, ted along the rocky and barren shorrs of L ower California. The information in ref r nee to this country, which it was iu my power to obtain, is not so precise as that wltich might be derived lrom an at:tual surv~), antll have th refore embodied it in the app endix. I have the honor to be, very respectfully, yours, \V. II. EJ\fOHY. Ex. Doc. No. 41. 127 APPENDIX No. 1. NEw YonK, Octobe,. 1, 1847. D.EAR Srn:. I re~urn you my thanks for th • very intt'r<'1-iling informntwn contain dIn your lettt•r of the 201h of Rt•pternb<•r."' It unfortunately happ rns that I canno t wait for th(' arrival of your p a p e r s, or f o r t h , p u b I i cat i on o r t h r rn n p o f t h r War D <'part_ 11_1ent. My essay makes part of the S('Cond volum of the transaet. t ons of the New York. Ethn ologica l ~ o<'idy . Th work is now in th~ p~~~s~ ror~ p.1 <·1~d wrt,h th ' excPp~ron o.r my essay; and thc• print~ t prt!s~cs me for 1l. 'l he mnp, whtl'h wtll ac(·o , 1 any it, is p rinc rp nl.ly Intend<•d to show the original ahod<•s of the ln dian trib{·s. It w til h c p r r s <· n lc' d a:::;. a s k r I c.l.1, w i thou t p r c t <' n s ions t 0 ace 11 rate co rr c·d ~r ss . J~u t th ~ rt' ~~a consld<•ration, wltidt rnakc•R Ill<' anx ious to ob~ilin <'.vt•ry possible Informat ion rt.· prcting the Hio Gila and e p t' c 1 a II y 1 t s u p p e r w n t r r s . ' Y~u mny no.t be aw•H: • that a work h :.)s latc·ly been r(' ('Ovcrcd ancl p ~~~.> 1 r s 11. • d , w l11 c h con t tt 1 n . a f u II Clll d a 11 t h l', Jt i c a c c o u n t 0 f a n e :x p c _ dttion 111 the Y<'Hr 1540-15·!2, by ord<•r of th • vi c·noy Milldo ·n nne! t.Ind(•r the conduc~ of Va1-iq1~cz Coronado. Tt cons isted of :iJo pan1ards and 800 ln r.ltans: t'l ting off from Culiaran, thc·y n 'a<' hetl th.e sou r<:rs of tht•. H 1 o Gd a, _passed a nos t h , mountains to the Hro .dt•l Nort , w.tntcrccl twr t:c in the provin ·e now <'<11l<·d N<'w M('Xtco, rxplorpd tl. through its whole Jcn gt o, from north to south and aft (•rwards, tak1ng a north<>nst coursr, cro~s ·d tb' mou ntain/ r • a c h c· d t .h <' buffalo p I a ins, t h r o 11 g h w h it: h t h f' y w n n d t•,. e d a c 0 11 s i ~ dei.ahl' d1s~~nc·? a:twardly, <1nd as far north as the 40th dc•grce o[ ~ at 1 t u d ~. lj tn d m g n o go 1 d , t h e y n • t u r n e d to M t· x i · 0 . T h c ~, p a n tards dtd not re-c n.t r the country till th • )'Car 15 1; and tht' con qurst of Nc~ Mextco wa not compldrd till about th, y ar 1595 . . The verac~ty of the narrator, ast 'IHtdor, who was a voluntc r tn the expe~lttion, and who wrote th • act:ount twrnty yc•ars after, is ~ully t'stabhsh d by a varirty of ·ircumstan ·cs, too mul tipli c·d to be In.·l'rted her~ . It1s u!Ti cient to say, that tlrr Ind ians of the Rio Gda, and of the upper valley of the Rio del Norte were nn agricu It u r a ~ p e o p 1 e , . c u I t i v a t i n g . m a i z c , b <'an s , p u m p k i n' s , a 11 d c 0 t( t 0 11 • ~CP<:ndin g t-x~lusively on agneultur • fo!' their sub·i-t<•n e tlwc.' llin~ In vtllagcs built of mud, (torchiR,) mixed with c •rta in bnlJs of ha 1·~ dencd matter,. and .well cemented togeth r. 'l'h ' hou. es were g n r~~\ Y fbur ston(!s IHgh, with n_o opening on the• first floor, aeces. ible Y Y movcnhl~ lad .lers, With top terraces, and an under ground· apartm ·nt occupted exclusively by lhc men, and u cd as estuflrsj ------- • Thi!! leu · · pas l!ln" or ~~.~as~ ~onoml ouo.ge, lltlu a low of tho oPnl.tmllnoos . of the routo, :and twJntr wotus of tho Cooo Maxiko- |