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Show 14 APPENDIX TO PAHT liT. Those sa·tragcs arc armed with bow and anows and with lances, or c sco;'atcs. A It hough they arc said to be ronYertcd to Christianity, they s till retain many of theit· ancient ritual s, feasts, and ceremonies, one or whiril is su rcmark<1ble it must not be passed unnoticed. Once a ) eat· thcr·c is a g reat feast prepared for three successive days, which they spend in eating, dr·inking-, and dancing. Ncar to thi s s ·cnc of amusement is a dark cave, i11to which not a glimpse o f li!;ht r.m penctt·ate und in which is prcp:1rcd places to repose on. T o this pi ;lee p ersons of all <l escr·iptions, of both sexes ancl of all ages, ~1ftc r puberty, and repair in the nig ht, where th ere is an indiscl'imillate commerce of the votaries, as chance, fortun e, and events di rect. Those revels certainly have g reat alfmity to some of the ancient mystic ri g hts of Greece and Home. Gove1·nmn1t and Lartu8.-Thc government of N ew Mexico may be termed military, in the pure sense of the word; for although they liaYe th ei1· alcades or infe rior officers, their judgments arc subject to a rc\'crsion by the military comniandants of districts. The whole male population arc subject to military duty, without pay or· emolument, and nrc obliged to find their own h or·sc~, arms and pro' ision. T he only thin ~~ furnished by the g·oye r·nment is ammunition, and it is ex traordin ary wi th what subordin ation they net when t hey nl'e turned out to do military duty, a strong proof o f which was exhibited in the expedition or l\fa l r~ar·es to the Pawnees. Jii-; c:ommand consisted of 100 dragoons of the reg ulat· serYi ce and 500 dtafts from the province. H e had conti nued down the Red ri\1''1' 1:ntil th eir p rovision began to be short: th ey then clemandec\ of tiH' lieutenant wl1 cre he was bound and the in te ntion of the exped ition ? T o this he hatq:;htily replied, " \vhcr c vcr his hor·se led him." \ few rnomings after he was presented with a pe ti tion, sirrnecl by ~00 o~· the milit ia, to re turn home . H e halted immediate ly,'aml ca ttf,t cl l11s (]r·agoons to c t·cct a gallows ; thrn beat to arms. T he troop. fe ll in : he separated the j 1etitionc1·.<J from the others, then took the man who had presented the petition, tir d him up, ancl g-ave him JO la::.hes, and threa(encd to put to death, on the gallows e rected, any rn nn who should dare to gTttlllble. This e ffectually s ilcuccd th elll , and quelled the rising· s pirit of sedition ; but it was remarked tlr ctt Jt was t he fl r~t instance of a Spaniard rccch ing corpol'al puni:;hmcnr t" \'er known 111 the' province. . ~orc~l.'l, J1Ja.mzcr~,·, b'c.-T here is nothin ~ pec uliarly charactc rl •· tt.c 111 tlus ~)ronn ce that \vill nut be embraced in my g·cncral obscr-v~ iOfi S on '\: cw ·S pain ' e x· ccp t t 11 at 1, rm• ::; 1'r out ·r c1·, anc.l cut o ff , as 1· l APPENDIX TO PART HI. were, from the more inhabited p arts of the l<ingdom, lOf~C t hcr with tlrei1· continual wars with some of the savage nations who surround them, render them the bravest and n 1o::.t hardy ::;ubjccts in New Spain; being generally arnte cl, they know the \lSC or them. Their want of gold and silver rende rs them labo rious, in o rder that the productions of their labor rnay be the means or cstabli shinfi the equilibrium between th em and th e other provi11CCS where those metals abound. Their insolated and remote ~ituation also causes them to e xhibit, in a supe rior deg r ee, the heavcu-likc q ualities of hospitality and kindness, in which they appear to endca\'or to fulfil the injuuction of the scripture, which enjoins us to feed the hungry, clothe the naked, and g·ive comfort to the oppre::;sec.l in s piri t, and I shall always take plea ~me in e x pressing m y g rati tude for their noble reception of myself and the men under my c omm~l ntl. .lllilitan; F o1·ct·.-Therc h but one troop of dragoons in ::\II N e w Mexico of the regular force, which is sta tioned at S <.u lt:t Fe, and is 100 stron g·. or this troop the govcmor is always the captain, e ntitling himself captain of the royal troop of' Sant.t Fe d ragoons ; but th ry arc commanded by a first lieutenant, who is captain by br e vet. The men capable of bearing arms in thi-; province .nay be estimated at 5000 : of those probably 1000 arc comple tely armed, 1000 badly, and the rest not at all. R l'ligiou.-The catholic religion is practised in this p ro\'ince after the same mauner as in the o ther pro vinces, and will hereafter be taken notice of generally. lfi8toru.- In the year l 59tJ. two friars came out from Old Mex ico to New 1\-lexico, and were well received by the savag-es. The)' t·etumed, and the ens uing year Juan de O uate, a monk, went out, explored the country, and re turned. A fter this 100 troops and 500 men, women, and c hild reu came out and settled on the Rio dd ~ol'lc, some, no very g reat, d i ~tance from "here Santa l'c 110w stant.l s. They entered into an nnangcmc nt with the Indians on the ~mbject of their establishment ; but a few years a l'tcr the Indian:> rose en masse, fell on the S pani ards by surprise, killed most of the soldiers, and obliged thetn to r etreat to Lhc Passo del Norte (from whence it ucquired its name). llere th ey waited a reinforcement from Biscay, which they received, of 70 men and two fi eld -pieces, with which they recomrnenced their m ~H·c h and finally arTivl'd at Santa F e, then the capital lndi.m vill age, to which they immediately laid siege. The Indians m <tint;.1inccl themselves tw enty-two d ay ~, when they surrendered and en tered into a second n egotiation, ~inr c which time the Spaniards lH\VC been e11gagcd in continual warfiire |
