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Show . a a, Jn c 510 Ex. Doc. No. 41. "zacate" that our animals had consumed, he would not be persuaclccl to rcCt.'ive one real, cxcl.liming: "No, senor, no cs v~le nada." We made but a Rhort march, ancl encamped .about a mile to the north of San Fclipp ·, among some. old culttvat·<l flclds, which affor<l<•tl grazing for our. animals. Whdc here, we sa~ many of the Indians of Santo Domwgo, and W(' endeavorc<l to mduce them to bring ((zacate" for our mules, but they scrmcd n?l to understand us; in fact very f(•w of tlH·m understand the Mcxu.:.an lan-guage. . . Decetnbn 22.-Last n1ght we had a stampede ::u~ong our an1mals, an<l this morning scvnal of them were not to .be found; I ha<l lost one mult', an<l some gentlemen who accompamed me from Valverde had lost th rec hot"t'S ancl two mules. There was no doubt but that they had be n driv.cn off by some i11 <lisposcd person during the night. . . .• The rest of our mul<•. were qurte wrlcl ancl ddhcult to ·atch. A I wishc<l to try my ,'kill with the" lazo," I g~ve chase to. one of the swiftest. As I have ::;o often been obhged to mentron the "lazo" l will now attempt to d<•scribe it, and the method of using this ~eapon. The best" lazos" are made of strips of hid(', generally of four slra.n<l., which arr beautifully plaited; it has at one end an iron ring about an inch in diameter; through this the thong, which is about one-third of an inch thick, is passed to form the noo~n·, which is so a<lju 'le<l that the ring shall be at the extremity of the noose farthest from the hand. ln l hi way it is grasped by all the flllgcrs of the right hand, which thus serve to k cp the. noose open. Th' remainder of the lar.o is neatly coilecl, and rests on the forcfmgcr of the left hand, while the E>xtremity of the thong is firmly held by the remaining fingers of the same hand. As the thong is between forty antl fifty feet in length, one is obliged to ~:;wing the noose hori~ontally until it acquires suffieient eentrifugal force to reach the object of aim. The eoils on the foreftnl!crs now pass off until at the exact moment, when, with a jl•rk of the left hand, the noos is made to elosc; then a turn is instantly taken around the pomml'l of the saddle, (if the person be on horsebaek,) which aves the rid ·r's being pulled from his sl·at. In New Mexico th re i' no one "hidalgo o puchero" who is not well skilled in the u. e of the all-powerful "la~o." While we were searching for our lost animal , some of the Indians of Santo Domingo warned us not to go to Santa Fe, as the Mexicans were ~oing to kill all the Americans there. We, however, left several men, with directions to continue the sc•arch for the lost animals, ancl proceeded with the int ntion of encamping on the" Rio lle Galisteo." On the road we saw four coyotl. or coyotes, "canis latrans," and made several shot at them, but we were unsuccessful. When we reached Gali leo creek we fountl plenty of water, which, although covered with icc, yet that could easily be broken. Decembe·r 23.-W e were up before sunrise, and I had my mule saddled and started at a rapid pace. The day was pleasant, although cold. The now that lay upon the grot;nd seemed tp inc rca s e in Q u n n tit y as t h c cl is t n n c c to t h e city of San t a "F' 6 dim in- I Ex. Doc. No. 41. 511 j shed . A t 1 c n g t h I a p Jl roach t' d " C. 6 . '. save distan cr by rroing aero., Ienl•gmlla, aud attempting to · 1. h < ss a mar 1 y SJW t f Immc< lately sank into tht> tr('"t<'ll . 1 o groun<1' my mu!e r.. · 1 • ·rous s o11g} A } . rl c I<' n t y s t ron g to b car m y w . . l t T . • 1 s t 1 c 1 c c was s u f- I n o w . < tg ' ' soon got . J • f I .. ::> t r o v e t o c x t n r a t e In y m u 1 . . ·I . . c ( a r o t 1 c s a d d J e. forts, and then se<•mpd to r • ,· c, ~ lc m.ulc S<'H·raJ dc~perate cf-whi ·h hn<l supportc•d her tll'l'-' cf~rgn l<'rsc•lf to dt•spair. Th<' ic" I ' ,, ,I r' now off<' r c I tl .. ' mcnts to l('J' dforts. I r,m b·u·k a sl t r ( I(' gn·.ltc·~t irnpcdi J had shortly before. cen '1 M•' . . ' .. lOJr l< Istnnn· to a plaC'c where l t I (f \ I C:XICan· lC l'HI r r ~~~ oo co tlw sadd re and bridle a'lso I ' 't g~J~e. now rl'turned rt should prevent thr mule's fu)] ? cs t lc f(•ar of thr severe extremity of th<' h?.o J stt . .' I fc.xcrttoJ~s, and taking hold of the · 1 ' ' ' · l < e e < c• < 1 n t urn 1n r J } p o In t w H' r c s h <' h a <I t' n I en·< I t I . g l e r J c a <1 to wards the I . . l e q u a 0' m I r <' 'l Jl I . . < ftlWing out my "mula.' ]i,or som? . ' I c soon sta·n·cd<·d in aspen leaf with col<l 'llltl ft·ar . . <.: tllne sh • trcmbl<·d li1<c an I ' • s I'<' rn 111 g t t h · 1 ' < angcrous quicksand. ' . o Ill' the so lid groun<l a ; soon ov~·rtook a M t•xiran who had 'l b I . w 1 ~ h h. e 0 a ere d with g I'{' at ) 0 I it . , I 0 lt e 01 (I~ ll a r cl i c n t e rro~cr, for my pantaloons Wt'C~' CO~~~;~· ~tJ e~gerJ} a 'C<'ptec) hi; lavang sun I~ . o dct·p as to wet the, hou ·i<n ~~ ~ u:r, from the mule About m1dday I rcaeht•d S·lnl'l Ji' '• 1g·. of my saddlt>. . there talking oi· an int~•rl<l<•<l' . ' c an.< found all the Ame rt.cans b · '"' Ill 'urrec1w 1 · 1 1 • e n cltsco.verrd. St'ntirH·ls had been ;Ia .~ '~ llc· l lad _fortunately th? field PI_<'Ct's and heavy guns ha<l be 1. < :c·IJ·I~l c:vrry dHcction, all tJ.u ~g Was 111 a statt• of }H<'paration ~ll t·~J <.d In lite _plaza, every vr~~Iancc.. . , n< tV<•ry body In a state of [ h~ <' h_Iei conspirator was Don T . . . . organrzalton of thr S"Veral <I< t I omas Or tt~; h<' arranO'<'d tlle ''- • · a c 1m en t s a 1 11 1 b one company was to nsscmhlc· l.ll ttl"<'} . I n< I(• pan of attack· a tl · 1 no H' r tn the valley oJ' "'I' '- , ltll'Cl' cac l<l ·lltCl " parronui· ' 1 " I l . l'ZlHjlle nort l f S· , 't •' { ea< ?f nrght, at a stgnal from th 'b •11 . ..1 0 .. cllllcl ji 6. J ll the conspirators wrrc to rush l.IJto tl t e s oi t.hc church towns tlle saerc t I1 <' whole body o'f troo 1 c s reels. ' .s c I·z c ~•} H' guns aud 'm as~ Tl pR. m le pCerIso ns of th e govc•.r noJ· ' Cllac l·Je s l)l Cnt 'lIt] o tcer, ..~ o onel Pri c·e, were to br s .·. 1 t ' 'n<. te commanding that purpose. . l1zcc >y parttcs appointed for December 21.-'fl•e 'lflt'llnr . l h · ' '- Y rl f<' > II S v m ' l k ' marc ' 1 n or d c r to r in for(' e Co I o , 1 j) . h Ill g p rc• par at ions to the anvil j . incessant; cais, ons and ~lc . or~lp an ; the cl,lnkiug of the forcrcs At tl ., . . . b un carnages arr strewed a 1 f n , . lls JUncture ll lH almost d btf 1 'rounc o Io~r citizens docs not n 'cluire. t<lnt t.ll ·o·ttl'II u wh •thc·r the safety 'l t 1s t·x p , c t e(1 that th wagons lo' adede wrli itJh cry s,h ouJ <1. H· ,m aJ· n. ~11 1 be attadccd; a company ha , been , t ~one~ fot the troops lem. sen o Wclrn and escort We 1Jear tltat an Miguel is in a 't t f . whole country sccmrd rife> an;l rc;d~ ~ c ~ m~urrection, and the stars and stripes; to tear do~n th<• 'nest o car <own th glorious fed mountains of the west Tl • b1 o~. tfe eagle from the rug~ ofty position and sees th . 1 lC Ilo .e Ire looks down from his De~are, beware of the c~o;r~! 1 the pucrde attempts to dislodge llim. Smce my · 1 1 g arnva lere, I had a Jong conversation witll M c-.t r. ~ • |