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Show 610 Ex. Doc. No. 4.1. without lileat. The Colorado would at all set~sons carry steamers of Jarcre size to thr. future city of LaVaca, at the mouth of the Gila.-=> A few gee. e nnd brant were to be seen on the ri\o·er. Novemb(~?· 25.-Matcherl at a quarter past 9, and crossed the river Car on having found the ford for us; we all got ovc~r safe, but t'l1e ,, atcr was derp for ~mall mules; it bei11g cold, the_ mules had Lo be kept in motion tiftcr getting ovc~, for they wer~ c\tsposed to roll in the dry sand. We found the thtcket on the nght b~nk rouc:1 more dense in plares than on the le ft. After about five miles we came to a range of sancl hi11s whi ch border tlte bo_ttom on the north side and we Hkirted the base of thesr for 10 m1l es, and halt d at an old Indian well, which we dug out, ancl found water at about 9 feel below the bottom of the ravine- there was once an Indian village; and in oHr r~de ~o-day we passed an old seci~, ?f -various sizes, of former (ultivatiOn. The l'anJ on the north 1s 1n motion a fioatiug mass like snow drift, and extends no doubt f~r into the plain ; ~~ hether it cam~ from the bars ~,f the .Co1.orarlo IS not certain but 1t is probable 1t covers the plaw, wh1ch IS of the the U8ual d'iluvia1 character, perhaps 30 feet thick. Our :1nimals found the beans of the mesquite pala.trt blc, anrl ate them like corn where tbere were any old hands to shrw thflw ho\v; they covered the ground in many places. VVe packed some grass for th m ~ocl a y , an ll they w i 11 cl o pretty w t 1 ~ to-~ i g h t , t' x c e p t for water , w h 1 c.h is scarce for man-the waters bemg l1ke those at the pool of Sl-lioam of old. Novembe-r 26.-Marched at half past 6, at sunrise, and took the jornada, and_ expected to fwd the place where the .s~aniarc\s hncl watered then hors s as they came out, but after TJ(hng 22 or 23 miles, we found oursclve::> at an old·well, dug in tl1e sand, in a dry creek in the plain, and no sign of the Mexican trail or the place vrbete they found wat ·r. vVc examined the well and founrl ·water, but tLe prospect of wa\(•ring 250 animals and 150 mtn at the welL wa~ gloomy enough; and .it was ner.es. ary to decide whether to halt here, or run the Ji~k, or go on without water for 60 tnil e"--the command having b ~tn 30 hours without watrr. Now, the prospect was gloomy enough; bul. we halleu, and, by dint of pcrscvt>rance, dip pin ~~ cons t ant l y , an d w it h ~ y stem , w r go l (, u t a h u n d :1 n c c o f water for all our anim1.ls and m• n; prob~bl y we look 800 or 1,000 buckets full of wat er out before morning-;-;otne of the ho rsrs takin< r five bu ckf'1S full wi tl•out st0ppi n~-tl1l' hutl«ts hoJ.ling about 0 ~ ' four g(l llons. We hav<' nothin~ at <Jl.H tamp but the l NIVCS of rnes-qu1t e, but the animal:; pirl.: a1 1lH·m for want of b. ·tl er food. Tl1e 11 o cl s are ( ate n g rt u 1 i J y by the H 1' i m a 1 s, c s r (' i ally t h c C a 1 if or n i a anit .. "l~ ; 1hey wtre quite abHiu1 ant a1 the l<.t~-t camp. ( ur ronte was through the southern end of a long ta.ngc of: o~ nJ hills, slrPtc~hing from the Colorado as fdr out in the pl.1 :01 t1) tbe north, .i JJ aftef\\( Hds we came upon the pL11n of di'uv ;al drift, with s•na ll r o 11 n d t cl p l' b h 1 ~ s , o f o u e o f w h i c h I f o u n tl t h c f r a g :n c u I. s s e v e r rt 1 yar <~s ap;:trt, bu t roundPrl anrl poli ;-(llCU by attrition . On t his phin there wcte places where g-ra~s grPW nlnmdantly for th \R cour~lry. vVc haltcJ an hour, and Jet our n 1imals pick; we were on a plain • Ex. Doc .. No. 41. 611 track all the way, and makin~ towards the mountains on the west of t~1 r plaiu n11til we ~tru c k t1te well 1 (Alaato Snlo.) .!Vovemb.t?' 27.-Mar ~ la fl eady, and set out for thP. 60 m1~es; after tra velltng. a f.,.w m1~es ~ve eu eoun tercel the ~and h t! 1~-. an J heavy r o u d s, a n ~ a 1t"' r n o ~ ' nul c s, fell upon a f l' w }J a 1 c he s of g raw a g~a s, ·wl1~e1 1 w~ r ~c ry "<·ceptahlc; W-.! halt r d an hour, antl set out, a ~ t e r g l' 1 tl ~~ ~ out n f our way l o 1 be north w ") s t, fi t t a 11 y came in the ntght (3 L mdc..s fr ,~.m ~he A lamu) to t!u~ ~alt lak ; but, alas! the wa\e1 ~ were b!ltf'r! -.bJtt~r! vV e ha1terl for the night, lying until 4 o e1 o el< , e~ n '1 o-o t o ff a ll1t I r b e f o r ~~ d a y . .No?Jemb~r 28.-ReadJed ~h0 Carmisa at noon in a fog fror1.~ the sea, ~27 u11les on our march of the 27th;) pa~sed the bed of a former Hf·sh '~atec ldke, n~u selr~ , spinelas, ~r ., ~t:'curul a speeimen of ~ach, ~~nrl t:H' cLly detntus. of the bot tom. This pl ain is covered .l ·places ''~th the srnall sptne1a, the. hells are thin and one would :suppos~ ca~t!Y deeaycd; f_rom _which it wou~d appea~ tl!at at no d~stant lLy t~ LS place, w}n<;h IS now a tlry desert from which the travell<'r will always turn U\.·\'::t ' if he can , was 'once a p ermanent lake, probably bord_ red w:1h th<> greenest products of tl1c vegetab 1? w o r 1 d , an d c he e rt n g to t h e e .r ~ a m i , h; t t b c ::1 c 1 j a c f• n t b a r r e 11 m 0 u n _ tatns. The muscle shells were fonnd at the Alamo in the sand~ sevet_'al _fe et_ und er the surfaee. Jn this pb.in J:l'ter can be fo und by dtggt_ng 1.n any of the deep inder .. tation r.; or bo llows; it needs a cur?, bu.dL like a sm lll log hut, to keep 1he walls of the '¥veil from cav.tng w;. the water can then he ~ot Ly bailing with a sha11ow b a ~ .1 n , t a 1~ 1n g o u t , a f t e r e v c r y b u c k e t or t w o a pan f u 11 of 8 an d w r~ 1 c h , be w g a s o_r t of semi-f1 u i d , rises in t h c ~ c 11 as the w at e r i ~ ag~Ltat e d .. Our antmals are no_w over the jornada; some of tht:'m we were oblig~-'d to l1.ave, to per1sh on the plain, and of those several a.re t.he You 11 g"~ _horse~ \~ h ich our men took from the d ron~ at the m n .u t ,;1 . o f. t ~1 e. ~ i ,1 a . l t 1 s p rob tt b I e t b at t h c g r c ~ t est trial u u r in g u h o l s t, s l t f c 1 s t n_c fl r ... t h a r d w o r k he d o c s , as 1 t w o u 1 <l be w i t h a man. Th~ Carm1::-a _Is a place in the pn s of the mountain where a stream rls Ps , ancl sulks again immediately. The watt!r eo111rs ou t warm '. a u d il o ~v . f 1 eel y ~ n . a cl ~·a r. 1 itt 1 e s I r l' am to ward s l he p I a 111 ~, an d_ h a I f a m t1 e d own 1 t _1 s l o s t 1 n t h r san u ; a r o u n d this w a t P r t h c can •. sa grow. , an,l a !-'pt>CL ·s of salt gra:;s. About this are h tlls of reddt:--h clay-seamed gyp~~um , like those on the Canadian forks oc tue ArkansCif-; th ·~c strata are incliner! in various ducction~ :-1~ thcyh. a;e. bc"nt qJ trH> n" v t <l b y tl 1 e v o J can ·1 c l11 o u n t l'l.l ll s on. e .l the r .s.. ,i dc e .· the d1lunou L·ys upon this unconform \hly , and "1. ,) in places Ji'.l~ tu rbecl. The ddu vinn is C<llnpo etl of grani te and silicious stones m o rc · u r 1 e s.:; r o u 11• l e d , an d t b i <' k q a m s o f lli u d . ' N~ vcmbe ,· 29 1 (Sttridny.)--~larcltt~d al half past 8 anrl continued ~p tn,.! s_ame hol l<'~' 20 m1le:-:; at 9, we cantt:: tosotnc'palmcttn trt'e~, at a sprwg of 8alttsh \\::\ler; (t il the road toe arr;ne abounded :illlU some of the fl ower l:iltt 1 k-1 were just budding f~, rtll· c1 l1 .o~1g ~ lhe ro. aId lP' d Ult ) a IJ O II ow a l l (1 c i)' , ~tl' II·I t appeare, l we Wc' i'C "Olfll• down lul '.a~ tl~.' rnou rJt~ins appt><~tld bi~her on the rigH a~d l;ft t han tho c tn fro~t , ant! therP. were no trees on the hllls to .;;how tl1e hon:r.ontal lines. The camp is in a narrow valley, with abundance |